Trump recalibrates Gaza stance as humanitarian concerns grow
'The purpose of the visit was to give @POTUS a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza,' Witkoff wrote on X.
The visit is emblematic of the ongoing shift inside the White House as Trump, while still supportive of Israel's campaign, has grown increasingly concerned about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza.
A White House official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the president's thinking, asserted that Trump 'hasn't changed his fundamental belief' that Hamas is 'largely' to blame for the protracted conflict. Still, referring to Trump's own comments in recent days, the official acknowledged 'some new concerns.'
Those concerns, spurred by photos and accounts of starving children, are echoed within MAGA circles and the broader public. A Gallup poll this week showed that American support for Israel's military action has dropped to 32 percent, a new low.
Trump 'calibrates his interactions based on what the issues are. And sometimes people make the mistake of not just listening to the president,' said a senior White House official granted anonymity to discuss the president's thinking. 'He's just straightforward on this stuff. … Like, what's going on with Gaza and Israel. He wants to settle it. Yes, you can't negotiate with Hamas. But, like, he doesn't want kids to starve. He doesn't want that to happen. It's just, that's it. You know, there's not more to it than that.'
That doesn't mean Trump is ready to embrace some foreign allies' call to recognize Palestinian statehood — although his opposition may not be quite as firm as it was a couple months ago.
Trump earlier this summer privately urged French President Emmanuel Macron against recognizing a Palestinian state, according to two people familiar with the conversation, who were granted anonymity to share closely held details. The call, which has not been previously reported, did not produce the intended result and Macron announced his intention to recognize a Palestinian state last week.
But when Trump was asked about it while traveling in Scotland last weekend, he was nonchalant about Macron going ahead with something he'd worked privately to forestall.
'What he says doesn't matter,' the president said. During a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Trump seemed almost agnostic about Palestinian statehood, leaving his counterpart space to fall in line behind Macron.
'I'm not going to take a position,' said Trump with Starmer seated at his side. 'I don't mind him taking a position.'
The White House declined to comment on Trump's conversation with Macron or his overall approach to the situation in Gaza. And on Thursday, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the president has 'expressed his displeasure and disagreement' with both Macron and Starmer, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who also indicated support for Palestinian statehood.
Trump, Leavitt continued, still opposes recognizing Palestine as a separate state. 'He feels as though that's rewarding Hamas at a time where Hamas is the true impediment to a ceasefire and to the release of all of the hostages,' she said.
Even so, Trump has broken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not only acknowledging the humanitarian crisis in Gaza but also dispatching top aides to address it.
Witkoff's social media post included a picture of him and Huckabee meeting with the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to which the U.S. has committed $30 million. Scores of charities and aid groups have criticized the organization for failing to safely distribute aid and said hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to access its distribution sites. The Israeli military insists it fires only 'warning shots' and blames Hamas for the violence.
Trump on Friday said Witkoff had a "great meeting."
"He had a meeting on getting the people fed, and that's what we want,' Trump said.
Concern for the plight of the Palestinians is a striking turn for the U.S. president who, just months ago, mused about creating a 'riviera' in the Middle East, a plan that appeared to be centered on forcibly relocating Palestinians into neighboring countries and razing their homes in Gaza.
And it was Trump who gave Netanyahu explicit approval, if not outright encouragement, in March to end the fragile U.S. brokered ceasefire after just two months and resume Israel's all-out war and near-total blockade of humanitarian aid. At the time, the president warned Hamas 'THERE WILL BE HELL TO PAY!' if continued to hold hostages and declared he was giving Israel "everything it needs to finish the job.'
The senior White House official said Trump just wants the bloodshed to end and is 'not deeply concerned about the details.'
'The president routinely preserves optionality and off ramps,' the official said. 'That's kind of his way — a lot of exit strategies on any given thing that are somewhat acceptable.'
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