President Donald Trump took aim at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, mocking the longtime New York Democrat over his increasingly critical stance toward Israel and joking that he planned to send him a traditional Palestinian outfit as a birthday present.

Speaking during remarks following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Trump claimed Schumer had undergone a dramatic political transformation on Middle East issues.

“Schumer’s lost his way. He’s become, essentially, a Palestinian. I think it’s the greatest transformation of a political position I’ve ever seen,” Trump said.

The president then escalated the joke, adding, “He’s become 100 per cent Palestinian. In fact, I’ve asked for a beautiful, beautiful silk outfit to be sent in the Palestinian tradition. I’m going to send it to him as a birthday present.”

Trump has repeatedly criticized Schumer in recent years over the senator’s public disagreements with Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu and his calls for changes in Israel’s leadership during the war against Hamas. Trump has previously accused Schumer of abandoning his longtime pro-Israel positions, despite Schumer’s decades-long record of support for the Jewish state.

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, has continued to describe himself as a strong supporter of Israel while also sharply criticizing Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza and urging new elections in Israel.