‘This is the first time everybody is amazed and they’re thrilled, and it’s an honor to be involved, and we’re going to have an amazing time,’ Trump tells reporters before departing US
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Washington gave Hamas approval to act as a police force in Gaza temporarily as nearly 2 million Palestinians return to the war-devastated enclave.
“They do want to stop the problems, and they’ve been open about it, and we gave them approval for a period of time,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling to the Middle East.
He said the US is monitoring to ensure “there’s not going to be big crime, or some of the problems that you have when you have areas like this that have been literally demolished.”
Trump acknowledged the security challenge as Palestinians return to destroyed homes. “You have close to 2 million people going back to buildings that have been demolished, and a lot of bad things can happen. So we want it to be safe.”
“I think it’s going to be fine,” he remarked.
‘War is over’
Trump asserted that the war in Gaza has come to an end. “The war is over, okay? You understand that?” he said, while responding to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not having acknowledged the end of the conflict.
Trump said he believed the ceasefire agreement, based on a 20-point proposal he announced last Wednesday, would remain intact.
“(There are) a lot of reasons why it’s going to hold. But I think people are tired of it. It’s been centuries, not just recent. It’s been centuries,” he said.
On concerns over Hamas rearming in Gaza, he said the Palestinian group “wants to stop the problems” and that the group has lost “probably 60,000 people.”
“That’s a lot of retribution,” he said, adding that many of those still alive “were, in many cases, very young when this all started.”
Trump noted that “close to two million people” are returning to areas where “buildings have been demolished,” and warned that “a lot of bad things can happen.”
“We want it to be safe. I think it’s going to be fine,” he added.
On whether he would ever visit Gaza, Trump said: “I would, I’d be proud to. I see it, I mean, I know it so well without visiting, but I do see it.”
“I’d like to put my feet on it at least, but I think it’s going to be a great miracle over the coming decades, and you know if you go too fast, that’s not going to be good. You have to go at the right speed, can’t go too fast,” he noted.
On a planned “Board of Peace” to be set up to govern Gaza as the deal proceeds, he said the body would be established “very quickly but that the inclusion of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was uncertain.
“First, I want to find out that Tony would be popular with all, because I just don’t know that,” he said.
He said reconstruction efforts and especially the process of clearing out debris and damaged buildings would start “immediately” and likely last a period of years.
“You have to get people taken care of first. But it’s going to start, really, essentially, immediately. They’re going to have to start by removing a lot of the structures that you see that are down to the ground. … It’s blasted. This is like a demolition site. Almost the entire site is.”
Trump also commented on the Nobel Peace Prize, saying it was “an honor” but insisting he did not act to win the award, emphasizing instead that he “did this for saving lives.”
He noted the 2024 selection and suggested some believe an exception could be made given the “great” developments of 2025.
He further claimed to have resolved several international conflicts through economic measures such as trade and tariffs, citing the example of India and Pakistan.
“I settled a few of the wars just based on tariffs,” he said, adding that his threat to impose tariffs of up to 200% prompted both sides to stand down within 24 hours.
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