Former President Donald Trump recently participated in an interview with Time Magazine in which he discussed a variety of topics. Of particular note was the subject of Israel’s war against Hamas currently being waged in the Gaza Strip. 

The conversation centered on the Israeli government’s handling of the war. Trump criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for missteps related to public relations and the failure to stop Hamas’ October 7 surprise attack that kicked off the war.

During the interview, the reporter brought up Trump’s previous comments about the war in which he argued that Israel needed to “get it over with” and “get back to normalcy” and asked whether he would withhold military assistance to the Jewish state if he wins reelection.

The former president started by touting his approach to Iran, a significant backer of Hamas. He claimed the Iranian regime was “broke” and that it “didn’t have the money to give” to terrorist organizations like Hamas when he was president. Trump then commented on Israel’s handling of public relations. 

“I think that Israel has done one thing very badly: public relations,” he said. 

He argued that the Israeli government should not “be sending out pictures every night of buildings falling down and being bombed with possibly people in those buildings every single night.”

The interviewer asked whether he would rule out withholding aid. Trump responded:

No, I—we have to be. Look, there's been no president that's done what I've done for Israel. When you look at all of the things that I've done, and it starts with the Iran nuclear deal. You know, Bibi Netanyahu begged Obama not to do that deal. I ended that deal. And if they were smart and energetic, other than trying to get Trump, they would have made a deal because they were in bad shape. They should have made a deal with Iran. They didn't prosecute that. They didn't make that deal. But I did Golan Heights.

The discussion turned to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s approval ratings as Israeli minister Benny Gantz, who is seen as his top rival, has been calling for early elections to be held in September. Trump chimed in, discussing his “bad experience” with the prime minister over the killing of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani. He indicated that Netanyahu “dropped out just before the attack.”

Trump then appeared to blame Hamas’ surprise attack on Netanyahu, saying that “October 7 should have never happened,” and that “it happened on his watch.”

No, it happened on his watch. And I think it's had a profound impact on him, despite everything. Because people said that shouldn't have happened. They have the most sophisticated equipment. They had—everything was there to stop that. And a lot of people knew about it, you know, thousands and thousands of people knew about it, but Israel didn't know about it, and I think he's being blamed for that very strongly, being blamed.

“And I will say this, Bibi Netanyahu rightfully has been criticized for what took place on October 7,” Trump concluded.

The former president also discussed the possibility of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Trump responded:

Most people thought it was going to be a two-state solution. I'm not sure a two-state solution anymore is gonna work. Everybody was talking about two states, even when I was there. I was saying, “What do you like here? Do you like two states?” Now people are going back to—it depends where you are. Every day it changes now. If Israel’s making progress, they don't want two states. They want everything. And if Israel's not making progress, sometimes they talk about two-state solution. Two-state solution seemed to be the idea that people liked most, the policy or the idea that people liked above.

However, the former president acknowledged that “two states is going to be very, very tough” and said, “You had a lot of people that liked the idea four years ago. Today, you have far fewer people that like the idea.”

The interviewer then asked whether Trump would side with Israel if it got into a war with Iran. “I have been very loyal to Israel, more loyal than any other president. I’ve done more for Israel than any other president. Yeah, I will protect Israel,” he answered.

Trump’s comments come as the world is waiting for Hamas to make a decision on a recent ceasefire proposal. Netanyahu recently announced on Tuesday that Israel will follow through with a plan to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah to continue the effort to eradicate Hamas, despite objections from the White House and other world leaders.

Related:

Netanyahu Throws Down the Gauntlet on Hamas and Taking Rafah