President Donald Trump called special envoy Steve Witkoff the "Henry Kissinger who doesn't leak" while addressing the Israeli parliament on Monday.
In a speech live on Newsmax and the free Newsmax2 online streaming platform, Trump spoke after Hamas released all 20 remaining living hostages held in Gaza, as part of a ceasefire pausing two years of war that pummeled the territory.
Early in his speech, Trump thanked several members of his administration, beginning with Witkoff.
"Steve was chosen by me. He never did this before, but I knew him as a few things," Trump said. "He was a great businessman, but I know a lot of great businessmen, to be honest with you. He had tremendous negotiating skills. But I know a lot of people that negotiate pretty well, although it is an art. But there are people that can negotiate pretty well. But most importantly with Steve, he's just a great guy. Everybody loved him. Everybody."
Trump then was briefly interrupted, and a Knesset member was removed from the room after verbally protesting.
"That was very efficient," Trump said of the removal before getting back to Witkoff and the process of negotiating peace between Israel and the Hamas terrorists.
The president said he needed to find "a certain group of people," who included son-in-law Jared Kushner, who had played a key role in negotiating the Abraham Accords, and Witkoff.
"Steve started this all by himself. I call him Henry Kissinger who doesn't leak," Trump said. "Henry is a big leaker. He leaked. Steve doesn't leak. Steve just wants to get the job done. He wants to do what's right."
Trump then talked about Witkoff's attempt to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
"I set up a meeting for him [Steve] to meet with President [Vladimir] Putin, thinking it would be a 15- or 20-minute meeting," said Trump, who went on to say the Witkoff-Putin meeting took five hours.
"That's a talent," Trump said. "Well, you can do that. Most people I'd send in No. 1, they wouldn't be accepted. No. 2, if they were, the meeting would last five minutes. And that's what happens with Steve. Everybody loves him.
"They love him on this side. They love him on the other side. And he really is. He's a great negotiator because he's a great guy. So thank you very much, Steve, very much."
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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