Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald hold a press conference in the Oval Office before sitting down for a private meeting, with Trump saying Saudi Arabia isn’t demanding a Palestinian state as a precondition for normalization with Israel.
This has thus far been a clear condition in public remarks by Riyadh.
Asked if the Saudis are demanding a Palestinian state, Trump says, “No, they’re not.”
Responding to a question whether Riyadh is asking for at least a path toward a Palestinian state, Trump says that “everyone is demanding one thing — peace.”
“We have the right leader of Israel” to go forward on a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia, Trump says.
He says of Netanyahu, “he wants peace also.”
He says that Netanyahu is “doing a great job,” and “we’ve been friends for a long time.”
Asked whether he might win the Nobel Peace Prize if he can get all the hostages back, Trump says, “They will never give me a Nobel prize.”
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