During a wide-ranging impromptu press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump signaled an eagerness to wrap up the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as quickly as possible — suggesting he would call on some of the combatants to make significant compromises.
“We’ve been doing our best and we’ll see what happens,” Trump said. “Since the election, I’ve been working every day to put the world at ease a little bit, to get rid of the wars.”
Trump has previously insisted he would need only 24 hours to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has now pressed on for more than 1,000 days. But on Monday, he said he anticipated that would be “more difficult” to resolve than the current turmoil in the Middle East, which is rooted in the century-old Israeli Palestinian conflict.
“I see that as more difficult,” Trump said, before decrying the Biden administration’s recent decision to loosen restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American-supplied arms in recent weeks, allowing Kyiv to strike deeper inside Russian territory.
President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 16, 2024.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
“I don’t think that should have been allowed,” he said. “Certainly not just weeks before I take over.
Trump then said he might reverse the decision, adding “I thought it was a very stupid thing to do.”
The president-elect also suggested he might expect Kyiv to hand over land to Russia as part of negotiated peace, signaling a departure from the Biden administration’s longstanding policy that Ukraine should steer any discussion on making territorial concessions in order to end the war.
“All those cities are destroyed,” he said. “It’s nice to say they want their land back, but the cities are largely destroyed.”
Trump said he would speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before weighing in on how much land Ukraine should cede, but said it was still possible a deal to end the war could be reached before he entered the White House.
He also spoke about the devastation the war had caused in vivid terms, without expressly blaming Moscow for igniting it.
“It’s a carnage that we haven’t seen since the Second World War. It’s got to be stopped. And I’m doing I’m doing my best to stop it,” he said.
On Syria’s Assad: ‘We have to get on with our lives’
The president-elect was also asked by ABC’s Selina Wang if the Kremlin should have to hand over former Syrian dictator, Bashar al-Assad, who fled rebel fighters by escaping to Russia.
“Well, I hadn’t thought of it. I think we have to get on with our lives. I have to see what happens,” Trump responded.
The president-elect said he was already actively engaged on other matters related to the Middle East, saying he had a “very good talk” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the weekend.
Tough talk on Israeli hostages in Gaza
Trump also reiterated a demand he made in a post on his Truth Social site earlier this month that all hostages held in Gaza should be released prior to his inauguration, saying otherwise there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY.”
Asked about what the consequences Hamas would face if all the detainees were not freed by that point, Trump responded “they’re going to have to determine what that means.”
“But it means it won’t be pleasant,” he added.
Some progress on Gaza ceasefire
Trump’s statements come as the State Department and some Israeli officials are signaling progress towards a limited deal to exchange some of the hostages held by Hamas for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza.
According to two U.S. officials familiar with the negotiations, Hamas has shown more willingness to compromise in recent days — indicating it would temporarily tolerate the presence of some Israeli forces in the enclave during a ceasefire. The group has also provided information on some hostages Hamas said it would release as part of an agreement, they added.
“We are we are pushing as hard as we know how to do at this point, and we believe we can get to a deal,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday. “It remains incumbent on Hamas and Israel agreeing to those final terms and getting it over the line. And I can’t good conscience tell you stand here and tell you that that’s going to happen, but it should happen.”