Trump on ME peace: We will get it done
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump declared himself confident in the chances of making peace in the Middle East as he hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House.
“We want to create peace between Israel and the Palestinians. We will get it done,” Trump said in a statement following their Oval Office talks.
Abbas echoed the US leader’s optimism, saying: “We can be true partners to you to bring about a historic peace under your stewardship.”
“It’s ... something that I think is frankly maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years,” Trump said at the beginning of the lunch with Abbas and senior US and Palestinian leaders. “But we need two willing parties. We believe Israel is willing, we believe you’re willing, and if you both are willing, we’re going to make a deal.”
Trump welcomed President Abbas for what he hoped would be “terrific” talks on relaunching the Middle East peace process.
The US president greeted Abbas barely two and a half months after having received Israeli prime minister
We can be true partners to you to bring about a historic peace under your stewardship Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President It’s ... something that I think is frankly maybe not as difficult as people have thought over the years Donald Trump, US President
Benjamin Netanyahu. “Hopefully something terrific can come out between the Palestinians and Israel,” the president said.
Abbas sat smiling at Trump’s side, but made no remarks.
“The president’s ultimate goal is to establish peace in the region,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
That long-shot effort — which has eluded US presidents since the 1970s — got off to a rocky start early in Trump’s administration.
Trump renounced support for a Palestinian state and vowed to move the US embassy to occupied Jerusalem, breaking two tenets of American policy held for decades.
Vice-President Mike Pence on Tuesday said Trump is still “giving serious consideration into moving the American embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.”
That move would likely spark Palestinian fury and is privately seen by many in the Israel and US security establishments as needlessly inflammatory. At the same time, Trump has urged Israel to hold back on settlement building in the West Bank, a longstanding concern of Palestinians and much of the world.