Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said Friday that the Israeli government "will seriously consider" naming a train station near the Western Wall after President Donald Trump.
Barkat said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that Israel wants to thank Trump for officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December. Trump at the time called his decision an "overdue step" for peace efforts between the Jewish state and the Palestinians, and also announced that he began making preparations to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Daily Beast political editor Sam Stein noted on Friday that news reports from late December said that Israel would name a new train station near the Western Wall after Trump. Barkat indicated that the idea may very well come to fruition, but added that it is still too early in the planning process to say for sure.
"There was a news report late last year that the train station near the Western Wall was going to be named after Donald Trump. Is that actually happening?" Stein asked.
"It's too early," Barkat responded. "But we would like to recognize President Trump, and commend him and thank him for what he has done, for the fact that he's moving the embassy and the recognition, the deep recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish people."
"So you'll name the train station after him?" Stein asked.
"We will seriously consider this; it's a process, but we'll seriously consider it," Barkat said.
Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz announced in December that a planned train station in the heart of Jerusalem's Old City would be named in Trump's honor.
"The Western Wall is the holiest place for the Jewish people, and I decided to name the train station that leads to it after President Trump—following his historic and brave decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel," Katz said at the time.
Last week, the Trump administration said it plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, the 70th anniversary of the day Israel declared its independence. The announcement surprised many observers who assumed the move would not take place until 2019 at the earliest.
Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to visit the Western Wall in May 2017.