Witkoff dismisses reports of Trump-Netanyahu rift as 'preposterous'
Senior Trump adviser dismisses reports of a rift with Netanyahu as "preposterous," reaffirms the strong US-Israel alliance.
Steve Witkoff, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, rejected reports of a supposed rift between the President and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling them “preposterous” in an interview with Breitbart News.
Breitbart on Sunday released the second part of the interview with Witkoff, which was recorded at the White House before the announcement that Hamas will release hostage Edan Alexander.
“I’ll tell you, first of all, it sounds like we have a very similar thought process that half these reports we discount, so maybe we should discount more than half,” Witkoff told the news website when asked about rumors of a falling out.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli people are a staunch ally of the United States and it goes back the other way. I’ve been at multiple meetings with the president and the Prime Minister—they’re friendly. They’re good friends, in fact,” he stated.
Witkoff emphasized that minor disagreements should not be exaggerated. “You have a newspaper person who hears about a small disagreement about something that normal human beings like me and you would pay no attention to, but that particular newspaper reporter then conflates that into some large article about some massive issues that they have? It’s preposterous,” he said.
Turning to the ongoing efforts to free hostages held by Hamas, Witkoff acknowledged disappointment that not all captives have been released.
“There are some aspects of it that are disappointing to me,” he told Breitbart. “I wish we could have gotten the last group of hostages out. We may still get them out.”
He revealed that negotiations are continuing on a daily basis with Israel, Qatar, Egypt, and the UAE, and that the administration is pushing for a peaceful outcome before Trump’s regional visit.
“We have a deal on the table that Hamas could have taken six weeks ago,” Witkoff said. “Hamas should say yes to it. It is a path to a peaceful dialogue and maybe even a peaceful, long-term, durable solution to this.”
He added that any agreement would require Hamas to demilitarize and adhere to the conditions outlined by US and regional stakeholders.
The interview with Witkoff was recorded ahead of President Trump’s scheduled visit to the Middle East, including stops in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.
It was also recorded ahead of Witkoff’s fourth round of talks with Iranian representatives in Oman regarding a potential nuclear agreement.
In the first part of the interview with Breitbart, released on Friday, Witkoff stressed that Trump’s diplomacy seeks to halt Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.