The comments came during Trump's Oct. 29 interview with Seattle-based talk show host Ari Hoffman as Trump was reviewing his Middle East policies, including the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab countries, and his pullout from the Iran nuclear deal.

Trump, as he discussed U.S. policy in the region, pivoted to what he believed was the "biggest change" he had seen recently.

"The biggest change I've seen in Congress is Israel literally owned Congress — you understand that. Ten years ago, 15 years ago, and it was so powerful, it was so powerful and today it's almost the opposite," Trump said.

He blamed the influence of a group of Democratic Congress members on the party's left who have been harshly critical of Israel and have called for a reduction in U.S. defense assistance to the country. He named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.