President Donald Trump told reporters that he and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will discuss Gaza and trade during their private meeting on Tuesday, the two-year anniversary of Hamas’s terror attack on Israel.
Trump and Carney met with the White House press pool in the Oval Office before their scheduled bilateral lunch, which is not open to reporters.
“We’re going to be talking about trade. We’re going to be talking about a lot of different things. We’ll certainly be talking about Gaza,” Trump said, adding that “very serious negotiations” are taking place.
“And I think there’s a possibility that we could have peace in the Middle East. It’s something even beyond the Gaza situation. We want a release of the hostages immediately, et cetera. And so our team is over there now. Another team just left,” he said.
Trump emphasized that “every country” is supporting his proposed peace plan, and Carney concurred. Last week, Trump thanked numerous countries in the Middle East that have helped foster the potential for serious peace talks, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt, among others.
“On this solemn day of commemoration of the horrific attacks of October 7, for the first time in decades, hundreds of years, thousands of years, this prospect of peace that you’ve made possible–Canada stands foursquare behind those efforts and we’ll do whatever we can to support that,” Carney said.
Hamas announced it was willing to release its remaining hostages and engage in peace talks on Friday, hours after Trump set a deadline over the weekend for Hamas to agree to his peace proposal. On Saturday, Israel agreed to the proposed withdrawal line, and if and when Hamas agrees, it will begin an immediate ceasefire, Trump said.
Carney also lauded Trump for striking peace deals between India and Pakistan and between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and for getting NATO partners to increase their defense commitments to five percent of their gross domestic product.
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