President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Hold a joint press conference at the White House after a meeting on Tuesday. This is the first visit abroad of Mr. Trump’s second term.
Trump, Netanyahu meets in the oval office before the press conference
Sitting next to Netanyahu in the oval office, Trump said on several occasions that he did not think that the Palestinians wanted to return to Gaza and said that he thought that Jordan, Egypt and other nations would accept the Palestinians even if They said they wouldn’t.
“They will not want to return to Gaza,” said Trump, adding that the Palestinians will only “end up dying” there.
“Who would like to go back?” Trump said. “They only knew death and destruction.”
The president said that other “rich” nations should pay for a new house for the Palestinians, although he has not developed this suggestion.
Netanyahu has largely allowed Trump to speak. A journalist asked the Israeli Prime Minister if former president Joe Biden or Mr. Trump was more responsible for the agreement and the ceasefire.
“I think President Trump added great strength and powerful leadership to this effort,” said Netanyahu.
The cease-fire and hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas, negotiated partly by the United States, continues to hold so far. Double citizen Keith Siegel was the first American to have been released since The implementation began Last month, although other Americans were released before.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would discuss the “victory over Hamas” with Mr. Trump, as well as the fight against Iran and the end of diplomatic relations with the Arab nations.
Trump told journalists on Monday that he had “no guarantee that peace would hold”.
The president’s meeting with Netanyahu being his first with a foreign leader indicates how Trump’s White House considers the American-Israeli relationship.
“Trump will continue to support our great ally, Israel,” National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said on Tuesday.
Waltz said the United States and Israel have “more to do” in terms of return from the Americans detained hostage. And the national security advisor said that the United States had to think “realistically” in the reconstruction of Gaza.
“I would come back to the characterization of the cleaning of Gaza,” Waltz told journalists on Tuesday. “I think that President Trump examines this from a humanitarian point of view. You have these people who literally sit thousands of unspecified ammunition and lots of rubble. You know, at one point, we must have the Realistic air.
Netanyahu met Mr. Trump last time in July in his Mar-A-Lago field in Palm Beach, Florida, while Trump was still a presidential candidate.
Netanyahu congratulated the former president Joe Biden for his victory in 2020, which Mr. Trump Long held against him. But the two worked to repair the relationship following the terrorist attack on October 7 in Hamas.
A journalist noted that their relationship had its ups and downs.
“I think it’s above all highs,” Trump said on Tuesday.
