Donald Trump has said he believes there is a famine in Gaza and he has told Israel that “maybe they have to do it in a different way”.
Speaking outside his hotel in Turnberry, South Ayrshire, on Monday, the US president said people in Gaza needed “to get food and safety right now” and that he wanted to get ceasefire talks restarted.
Asked if he agreed with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who said earlier on Monday that there was no starvation in Gaza, Trump replied: “I don’t know. Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry. We’re giving a lot of money and a lot of food and other nations are now stepping up.”
Trump responded, “Nobody’s done anything great over there,” when asked if Israel had taken all reasonable precautions to prevent civilian casualties. Everything is in disarray. I suggested to Israel that they might need to approach it differently.
Alongside Trump, Keir Starmer stated that “people in Britain are revolted at what they’re seeing on their screens” and that the situation in Gaza was a “real humanitarian crisis.”
The US president claimed that the US had “given a lot of money to Gaza for food and everything else, a lot of that money is stolen by Hamas and a lot of that food is stolen” and that he did not think Hamas would free the remaining Israeli hostages it was holding.
Trump responded, “I’m not going to take a position, I don’t mind him [the prime minister] taking a position,” when asked about the UK government’s commitment to recognizing a Palestinian state. Right now, I want to feed people.
The Donald Trump Turn berry hotel and golf resort, where Trump and Starmer were scheduled to meet bilaterally on Monday, was the backdrop for their conversation.
The prime minister’s top priority when speaking with the US president is the Gaza crisis. Prior to the meeting, Downing Street made it clear that Starmer would urge Trump to adopt a more assertive posture towards Israel and to push for the restart of ceasefire negotiations.
Later this week, in the midst of global indignation over the pictures of famine in Gaza, the prime minister will call an emergency cabinet meeting to address the situation.
Senior cabinet members and more than one-third of his MPs are putting pressure on Starmer to recognise a Palestinian state right away. The UN is holding a conference this week in New York to discuss a way forward, and David Lammy, the foreign secretary, is anticipated to attend.
In addition, Trump told reporters he was “very disappointed” in Vladimir Putin and said he would shorten the 50-day period for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine before enacting punitive tariffs.
“We thought we had that settled a number of times, and then President Putin goes out and starts launching rockets into some city like Kyiv and kills a lot of people in a nursing home or whatever,” he said.
“I say that’s not the way to do it, because you have bodies lying all over the street. We shall thus observe the outcome of that.
He continued, saying, “We’re going to have to look, and I’m going to reduce that 50 days that I gave him to a lesser number, because I think I already know the answer, what’s going to happen.”
Disclaimer:
This article is based on public statements and news reports. It does not reflect any political bias. The views expressed are those of the individuals mentioned. Readers should refer to multiple sources for complete context.
Read More: Dollar Surges as US and EU Strike Game-Changing Tariff Deal