President Donald Trump, who worked a shift at a McDonald‘s restaurant in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, while on the campaign trail in 2024, negotiated a groundbreaking, historic, and much-needed peace deal between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas. The ceasefire will hopefully halt the brutal war in Gaza that has lasted more than two years, resulting in thousands of casualties.
What, like it was hard?
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It was quite difficult, actually. Trump succeeded where many diplomats, government officials, international leaders, scholars, geopolitical experts, Democrats, and Biden administration officials failed.
The erstwhile fast food employee negotiated an agreement that secured the release of hostages living under Hamas captivity, ended military operations in Gaza, and restored aid trucks to the innocent people Hamas was exploiting to advance its efforts. Nearly a year after serving Big Macs, milkshakes, and french fries to suburban Philadelphians, Trump defied the expectations of political rivals, naysayers, critics, media members, journalists, podcast hosts, social media influencers, those on the Left, and even some on the Right who publicly prayed for peace but secretly wished he faltered.
Trump took to social media on Wednesday evening to announce that “Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan.” He hailed it as the first step to “everlasting peace” and a “great day,” rightfully so.
“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan,” Trump posted to his Truth Social account. “This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”
“All Parties will be treated fairly!” he added. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Trump left McDonald’s in October 2024 to become president. Negotiating geopolitical agreements, ceasefires, and Middle East conflicts are part of the expectations for the new gig. Yet accomplishing such feats is far from easy. Suffice it to say, dealing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire to defend his country from Hamas is obviously much more difficult than flipping burgers. Nevertheless, Trump deserves significant credit for putting this deal together.
It’s a startling reality that many of Trump’s critics had to admit. Consider the words of Washington Post columnist and editor David Ignatius, who appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss the peace deal.
“The deal that President Trump is announcing, played a key part in negotiating, is a significant change,” Ignatius said. “This war was blocked for two years. President Biden, who preceded him, was unable to find a way to stop it. President Trump found that way by being tough on both sides, and you take a victory lap for sure over the next few days, but it’s deserved.”
“There’s no way that I can see that this would have been done without Trump’s pressure in the final hours,” he added.
TRUMP TAKES GAZA VICTORY LAP DURING CABINET MEETING
Yet, despite the diplomatic success, an end to a brutal conflict, and freeing hostages, many Democrats and Trump critics haven’t said “I’m lovin’ it” (the McDonald’s jingle for the uninitiated). Congressional lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-CT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), among others, who regularly called for a ceasefire, were conspicuously silent on Thursday.
Moreover, unlike Democrats from the previous administration, Trump hasn’t spent most of his life serving in politics and was an outsider to Washington, D.C., just over a decade ago. The fact that career Democratic government officials, long-standing career politicians, and evergreen officials in the murky swamps of the capital couldn’t accomplish what Trump did speaks volumes.
Not bad for a former McDonald’s worker, not bad at all.