WAUKESHA, Wisconsin — US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on May 1 that it "was a beautiful thing to watch" New York police officers raiding a Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian students, calling the protesters "raging lunatics and Hamas sympathisers".

"New York was under siege last night," Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Wisconsin. He praised the police officers for arresting about 300 protesters.

Trump was addressing the spread of pro-Palestinian protests across the US in recent days. Republicans have accused some university administrators of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitic rhetoric and harassment.

The Oct 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip and the ensuing Israeli offencive on the Palestinian enclave have unleashed the biggest outpouring of US student activism since anti-racism protests in 2020.

"Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places," Trump said, referring to media reports of plans by the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to accept some Gaza refugees. The crowd booed in response.

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