Donald Trump tells Abbas ‘we will get it done’ on Israel-Palestinian peace deal
Donald Trump has committed the United States to helping Israel and the Palestinians reach peace, telling visiting Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas: “We will get it done.”
Trump spoke after welcoming Abbas to the White House for a meeting aimed at relaunching talks that have failed repeatedly to resolve the decades-old conflict. “I’ve always heard that perhaps the toughest deal to make is the deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Trump said. “Let’s see if we can prove them wrong.”
He insisted: “We will get it done.”
Speaking through a translator, Abbas echoed Trump’s upbeat tone: “We believe that we can be true partners to you to bring about a historic peace under your stewardship.”Barely two and a half months after he received Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president greeted Abbas on the White House lawn, before ushering him into the Oval Office for their talks.
The longshot effort to bring peace – which has eluded US presidents since the 1970s – got off to a rocky start early in Trump’s administration.