President Donald Trump disagreed Tuesday with United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s announcement that he would recognize a Palestinian state in September, calling it a “reward for Hamas.”
Trump responded to Starmer while on Air Force One en route back to the United States after a visit to Scotland, during which he sealed a trade deal with the European Union and brokered peace, from a distance, between Thailand and Cambodia.
Though the two leaders had seemed to be on the same page at a Monday press conference regarding Gaza, Starmer took an extra step — one he had not signaled in advance, Trump said.
The Times of Israel reported:
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday says he and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not discuss Britain’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes a number of steps to improve life for Palestinians.
…
“If you do that, you really are rewarding Hamas,” he says, referring to decisions to recognize Palestinian statehood by France and now the UK. “I’m not about to do that.”
The president says he spoke to Netanyahu two days ago and expresses confidence in Israel’s ability to distribute food to Gazans, despite widespread criticism of its humanitarian efforts so far.
Trump’s language paralleled that of Israel’s foreign ministry, which likewise called Starmer’s announcement a “reward for Hamas.” Starmer followed in the wake of French President Emmanuel Macron, who made a similar announcement last week. The UK prime minister also said that he expected Hamas to release all of its hostages, to disarm, and to accept that it could not participate in any future Palestinian government.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of Trump 2.0: The Most Dramatic ‘First 100 Days’ in Presidential History, available for Amazon Kindle. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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