From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 3, 2025
Asked if he’d back West Bank annexation, Trump says Israel ‘a small country, in terms of land’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump avoids answering a question from a reporter in the Oval Office regarding whether he would support Israel annexing the West Bank.
“I’m not going to talk about that. It certainly is a small, it’s a small country in terms of land,” he says.
“See this pen?” he continues, holding up the pen he was using to sign executive orders. “This wonderful pen on my desk is the Middle East, and the top of the pen — that’s Israel.”
“That’s not good, right? You know, it’s a pretty big difference. I use that as an analogy — it’s pretty accurate, actually.”
“It’s a pretty small piece of land. It’s amazing what they’ve been able to do when you think about it, [There’s] a lot of good, smart brain power, but it is a very small piece of land, no question about it,” he says, appearing to talk about Israel.
President Trump: "It's amazing what Israel has been able to do with a lot of brainpower, but very little land area. I have no guarantees that the agreement will last. I've seen people go through brutal things. Nobody has seen anything like this." pic.twitter.com/pZIZQRKhNR
— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) February 3, 2025
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