From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Trump pledges to end ‘destruction in Lebanon’ in appeal to Arab voters ahead of election
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump pledges to end the “suffering and destruction in Lebanon,” in an apparent appeal to Arab voters less than a week before the election.
Trump has been aggressively courting Arab and Muslim voters in the swing state of Michigan, which also houses the largest Lebanese community in the US, amid fury over the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.
While Trump, like Biden, has backed Israel’s right to defend itself, he has repeatedly called Israel to end the war quickly and claimed that Hamas wouldn’t have attacked Israel if he were president.
The post on X pledging to end the destruction in Lebanon doesn’t mention Israel or Hezbollah.
“During my administration, we had peace in the Middle East, and we will have peace again very soon! I will fix the problems caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon,” Trump tweets.
During my Administration, we had peace in the Middle East, and we will have peace again very soon! I will fix the problems caused by Kamala Harris and Joe Biden and stop the suffering and destruction in Lebanon. I want to see the Middle East return to real peace, a lasting peace,…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2024
“I want to see the Middle East return to real peace, a lasting peace, and we will get it done properly so it doesn’t repeat itself every 5 or 10 years!”
