US President Donald Trump has come to believe that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging Israel’s war in Gaza to hold on to political power, according to two Trump administration officials who spoke to The Atlantic.
The Thursday report claimed, based on several unnamed sources, that Trump and many of his aides are more eager than ever to bring the fighting in Gaza to a close amid widespread condemnation of Israel’s wartime conduct, including from a growing faction of isolationists in the Republican Party.
With negotiations for a hostage and ceasefire deal once again facing steep hurdles, the American president has reportedly become convinced that Israel already achieved its military objectives in Gaza long ago, and that the current fighting is fueled chiefly by the premier’s political interests.
The report was published as Trump’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem Thursday afternoon to discuss the stalled negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
Witkoff was also slated to make a rare visit to Gaza during his trip, to visit aid distribution hubs run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, whose operations have sparked major international backlash in recent months amid near-daily reports of deadly shootings at their sites by Israeli troops.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 1,000 people have been killed by Israeli fire near GHF sites, though Israel says the toll is exaggerated.
Trump tasked Witkoff with forming his own assessment of Gaza’s humanitarian situation and the GHF’s viability as an aid distributor, according to two US officials who spoke to The Atlantic.
Furthermore, Trump aides have reportedly discussed urging Israel to increase the food and other supplies it allows into the Strip, so that enough will find its way into the hands of civilians, even if some were to be stolen by Hamas, as Israel claims has happened time and time again.
Earlier Thursday, Trump called on the terror group to surrender and release the 50 hostages it is holding in order to end hunger and other woes in Gaza.
“The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The remarks signaled a change in tone from some of his other recent comments regarding food shortages in Gaza, in which he pushed back against the Israeli line, including during a Tuesday press conference alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
When asked whether he was convinced by Netanyahu’s insistence that there is no starvation in Gaza, Trump replied: “Based on television, not particularly, because those children look very hungry.”
Trump is not just motivated by humanitarian concerns in seeking an end to the fighting, according to the report, but has also grown frustrated over his repeated failure to make good on campaign promises, among them bringing peace to the Middle East.
The US president sought to continue the legacy he carved out in his first term with the Abraham Accords — which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries — and press on in fostering peace throughout the region.
On top of his own presidential aspirations, a growing number of Republican voters have also grown disenchanted with the US-Israel alliance, as sections of Trump’s base veer toward a more isolationist foreign policy.
Trump’s frequent appeals to an “America First” approach have largely guided the Make America Great Again world. Though the Republican Party remains solidly pro-Israel, some lawmakers such as far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene — who called Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide” on X earlier in July — have embodied this change among America’s right-wing.
Greene is still a lonely voice among Republican representatives, with her measure to cancel US funding for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system failing in a 422-6 vote earlier in July. The shift has occurred mostly outside the halls of power, and particularly among American right-wing youth.
A CNN poll this month found the share of Republicans who believe Israel’s actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68% in 2023 to 52%.
A Pew Research poll from April, meanwhile, found that while Republicans over age 50 remain staunchly pro-Israel since 2022, the Jewish state’s unfavorability among Republican young adults climbed from 35% to 50% over those three years.
A White House spokesperson declined The Atlantic’s request for comment, as did a spokesperson for Netanyahu.