First residents describe life in the Golan Heights town named after embattled ex-president.

Trump Heights has blossomed into a thriving community in the three years since the then-non-existent Golan Heights town was named after the former American president, the Israel Hayom Hebrew-language daily reported on Thursday.

In June 2019, the Israeli cabinet under the Netanyahu government voted on a resolution to “initiate establishment of a new residential community on the Golan Heights to be named for U.S President Donald Trump.”

The move was in recognition of the president’s efforts on behalf of Israel, including recognizing Jerusalem as the country’s capital as well as Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights.

When it was first inaugurated, Trump Heights was nothing more than a patch of grass in the rolling hills of the Golan Heights. Around twenty families moved there in the summer of 2020, from both secular and religious backgrounds and a boarding school for underprivileged youths prior to their enlistment was inaugurated the previous year.

According to the report, the newly established town hopes to see an additional 99 homes built in the next five years.