Trump vows to work towards peace at White House Iftar as Gaza is bombed
US President Donald Trump thanked the "hundreds of thousands" of Muslim Americans who supported him "in record numbers" in the 2024 elections, as he hosted the first Iftar dinner of his second term at the White House.
Addressing the dinner on Thursday, Trump said: “The Muslim community was there for us in November, and while I’m president, I will be there for you.
"My administration is engaged in relentless diplomacy to forging lasting peace in the Middle East, building on the historic Abraham Accords, which everybody said would be impossible, and now we're going to start filling them out," he added.
He was referring to the controversial US-brokered normalisation agreements between Israel and several Muslim-majority countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan, in 2020.
The 2024 elections saw a swell of Arab-American support for Trump, breaking with traditional support for the Democratic Party largely over former US President Joe Biden's support for Israel's war on Gaza.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Despite repeated pledges to halt the war on the campaign trail, and precipitating a temporary ceasefire shortly before he entered office in January, Trump reportedly “green-lit” Israel’s resumption of fighting earlier this month.
Israeli forces have killed nearly 900 Palestinians, including hundreds of children, in 10 days.
Trump has also approved nearly $12bn in arms sales to Israel since he entered office, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The US deputy special envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, said on Sunday that Washington has “unleashed Israel” by giving it “all the weapons it needs” to continue its war on Gaza.
Soon after he assumed office, Trump called for the forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, announcing that his administration would "take over" the enclave, relocate its inhabitants elsewhere and turn the territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
