President Donald Trump illustrated diplomacy in action on Tuesday afternoon in the White House by welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a special meeting, where the two discussed the situation in the Middle East, with a special emphasis on continuing to free hostages taken by Hamas.
Shortly after arriving, the two leaders sat together for several minutes and fielded questions from a loud gaggle of press. One reporter asked if Trump would receive the Nobel Peace Prize when all the hostages were released.
“They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize,” he remarked, smiling.
Trump then noted that, regarding the situation in the Middle East, he believed between him and Netanyahu, “we have a combination that’s very unbeatable, actually.”
Another reporter asked the president if there was a pathway toward establishing a Palestinian state in the Middle East.
President Trump emphasized that people just want peace and “we want to stop people being killed.”
Fox News’ Peter Doocy at one point asked Netanyahu if he believed that Joe Biden or President Trump was more responsible for the hostage and ceasefire deal in the Middle East that took place just before Trump’s inauguration.
“I think President Trump added great force and powerful leadership to this effort,” Netanyahu said. “He sent a very good emissary.”
Regarding the conflict in the Middle East that erupted under the leadership of the Biden administration, President Trump added, “Some very poor leadership led to a lot of problems and a lot of death.”
Trump reiterated statements he made in the Oval Office earlier on Tuesday regarding Palestinian resettlement: move them elsewhere. He emphasized his desire to relocate Palestinians to a location other than embattled and destroyed Gaza.
“We need another location,” he said. “I think it’s a location that’s going to make people happy…it’s all death in Gaza, this has been happening for years.”
Trump remained confident that both Jordan and Egypt would agree to accept Palestinians in their countries. He also said that other countries had volunteered to participate, although it is unclear which countries he is referring to at this time.
Finally, Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the United States for its renewed willingness, thanks to President Trump, to work with Israel to bring peace to the Middle East. He said the chance for peace “goes up a lot” when both countries cooperate.
