When President Trump announced a deal that could end the Israel-Hamas war, most Democrats were quick to cheer the promise of an imminent return of hostages and the close to a catastrophic conflict.
But few were willing to credit Mr. Trump himself, reluctant to praise a president who has said he hates them and wants them jailed, and whom many of them regard as complicit in Israel’s brutal strategy in Gaza.
“I don’t want to give credit right now,” Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said in an interview on Thursday at the Capitol. “We have given, as a nation, billions and billions of dollars under Biden and under Trump to starve children in Gaza. I’m not talking about credit.”
Others who applauded the agreement had little or nothing to say about Mr. Trump’s role in forging it.
Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, issued a 175-word statement that welcomed the progress but made no mention, even implicit, of Mr. Trump. Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who sits on the Armed Services panel, also did not name Mr. Trump in her 192 words of response, though she hailed the deal as a “victory” and said she was “grateful” for the administration’s efforts. Representative Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey praised “the American leadership that made this deal possible” — but did not say who provided that leadership.
And Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House minority leader, called Mr. Trump’s announcement “an extremely welcome development.” He did not cite Mr. Trump.
The responses from Democrats reflect the delicate dance involved in praising a major potential accomplishment by a president they detest, especially when it comes to a conflict that has roiled their party’s base and flipped the politics of supporting Israel, a longtime ally.
The endeavor is all the more tricky given that some voters whose backing Democrats need to win elections — including independents and moderates — are likely to regard a successful Middle East peace deal as a huge win and might sour on leaders who appear insufficiently appreciative.
Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor and ambassador to Japan who is exploring a 2028 presidential run, said his party’s critiques of Mr. Trump would have more impact if there were room to say something nice about the president now that he has played a key role in potentially ending the war.
“Trump deserves credit,” Mr. Emanuel said. “If you want to get heard on your criticism, you give a compliment and then you’ll be heard on the criticism loud and clear. If all you are is a critic, it’s harder to be heard.”
Asked on Friday whether Mr. Trump should get credit for securing a deal, Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania said he “obviously” should.
“The work that his administration has done here has been really important,” he said in an interview. “There’s a lot that still needs to be worked out, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
Still, as the prospect of a dramatic hostage return within days loomed and Mr. Trump publicly slammed the Nobel Peace Prize committee for failing to award him the honor, Democrats were rolling their eyes at the idea of extolling a president who has ordered immigration raids and militarized major American cities as a model peacemaker.
At least one Democrat has been heaping praise on Mr. Trump for the deal. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who has been his party’s loudest defender of Israel’s war strategy since Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, recirculated a screenshot of Mr. Trump’s triumphant social media post announcing the agreement.
“I congratulate @POTUS on this historic peace plan that releases all the hostages,” Mr. Fetterman wrote. “Now, enduring peace in the region is possible. Our parties are different but we have a shared ironclad commitment to Israel and its people.”
It is, of course, hardly unusual for members of one party to be stingy with praise for the president of another, even when he has accomplished a substantial feat.
Though he initially congratulated President Barack Obama for the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Mr. Trump later spent months arguing that Mr. Obama did not deserve credit for it. And Mr. Trump condemned President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s prisoner swap last year that returned the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich from prison in Russia. Most in his party followed suit.
It is not clear how much there is to gain politically for Mr. Trump if the hostages are returned and the cease-fire gives way to a longer-term peace agreement, or if there is any risk for Democrats in withholding credit from him. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have already been killed as much of Gaza has been flattened by the Israeli military, and a recent poll from The New York Times and Siena University showed a precipitous decline in American support for Israel, with Democrats driving the trend.
Other presidents who have secured Middle East peace deals, like Jimmy Carter in 1979, did not find that it boosted their domestic electoral fortunes.
Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of J Street, the center-left lobbying group that has been highly critical of the Israeli government’s actions in the war, said Democrats should focus on “the people and the substance” of the deal and forgo questions of whether Mr. Trump or anyone else deserves credit for it.
“We can hold two facts at once,” Mr. Ben-Ami said. “This is a president who is destroying our democracy. One can fight that and oppose it and also welcome a step toward peace.”
The spectrum of Democratic responses is yet more evidence that, a decade into Mr. Trump’s political career, the party remains divided about how best to react to him.
Representative Ro Khanna, the California Democrat who is weighing a 2028 presidential bid and who served as an emissary during Mr. Biden’s campaign to voters who withheld their support because of the Israeli bombing of Gaza, said he was hopeful but withholding lavish praise for now.
“I’ve been so disgusted by this war that I want Trump to succeed in this,” Mr. Khanna said. “I want the bombing to stop and I want the hostages to come home.”
And Pete Buttigieg, the former transportation secretary who could also be a 2028 contender, offered a social media reaction that did not even call the announcement a deal or a cease-fire — and did not include any mention of Mr. Trump.
“Praying that the latest developments in the Middle East will lead to the real results we all hope to see: an end to the suffering and destruction, the return of all remaining hostages, and meaningful beginnings toward a lasting peace,” he wrote.
In the hallways of the Senate, where some Democrats are constantly grasping for something to prove their bipartisan bona fides, several offered a modicum of credit to Mr. Trump, though some cautioned that the president might be crowing prematurely about a deal that was far from sealed.
Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona replied, “Yes, absolutely,” when asked if Mr. Trump deserved credit for the agreement. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said that “we need to give the president credit, but at the same time, be very cleareyed at this moment that we are on the verge of enormous achievement, but still not there.”
Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said that with stronger bipartisan leadership from “both American presidents” — meaning Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden — a deal could have been struck long ago. That, he said, would have “saved a lot of lives and prevented a lot of devastation.”
Katie Glueck contributed reporting from Harrisburg, Pa.