Trump says Türkiye and Israel will ‘not have a problem’

WASHINGTON

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that Türkiye and Israel will not have a problem, dismissing concerns over potential conflict as he spoke alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint news conference in Florida.

“Netanyahu and Erdoğan are not going to have a problem,” Trump said when asked about relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv, adding that he knew Erdoğan well and considered him a friend whom he respected.

Trump said he believed both leaders would avoid confrontation, despite strained ties between Türkiye and Israel over Israel’s war in Gaza and its military actions in Syria.

“We’re not going to have a problem. Nothing’s going to happen,” Trump said.

Asked about the possible sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, Trump said Washington was “seriously thinking about it,” reopening debate over a deal frozen after the U.S. removed Türkiye from the programme in 2019 following Ankara’s purchase of Russian missile defense systems.

Trump also credited Erdoğan with playing a key role in the fall of Syria’s former leader Bashar al-Assad last year, saying the Turkish president had “helped very much” to remove what he described as a bad ruler.

He said he and Netanyahu shared an “understanding” on Syria and expressed confidence that Israel would ultimately get along with Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose forces ousted Assad. “I will make it so that they do get along,” Trump said.

Netanyahu said Israel was seeking a peaceful border with Syria, even as Israeli forces have expanded their presence in the Golan Heights and carried out near-daily incursions into southern Syria since Assad’s fall.

On Gaza, Trump warned Hamas it would have “hell to pay” if it failed to disarm quickly under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, which he said Israel was honouring. He voiced strong support for Netanyahu’s position on moving to the next phase of the truce, including excluding Hamas from any future governing structure in Gaza.

“I’m not concerned about anything that Israel’s doing,” Trump said.

Despite the ceasefire, Israel has kept most Gaza crossings closed, restricting the entry of reconstruction materials and worsening the humanitarian crisis affecting more than two million people.

Trump also said the United States and Israel did not fully agree on the future of the occupied West Bank but would eventually reach a decision. Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023, Palestinian figures show.