President Donald Trump should receive praise for his peace deal between Hamas and Israel, Democratic strategist James Carville said.
"[S]topping this, bringing these hostages back ... you can say, well, it may not last that long, but you know what? He did it. And he deserves some credit for it," Carville said Wednesday on his podcast, "Politics War Room."
"They just do ... Look at all the credit that [former President] Jimmy Carter got for Camp David, that [former President] George H.W. Bush got when the Berlin Wall fell."
"They're having a legitimate kind of moment in the sun and that's fine. And hopefully this thing will hold," he added. "We'll see. But I don't have any problem with saying that they did something which, as of now, other people failed to do."
Israel and Hamas earlier this week agreed to the first phase of a U.S.-brokered peace plan, including the release of all living Israeli hostages, a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza to a negotiated line, the release of Palestinian prisoners and an increase of humanitarian aid access into Gaza.
Hamas, which on Oct. 7, 2023, murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 to Gaza, has transferred some bodies but Israel says many remain unreturned. The deal hinges on Hamas fulfilling all its return obligations as Israel insists it won't move forward with further steps until complete compliance.
Trump on Tuesday said Hamas will disarm pursuant to his 20-point peace plan or "we will disarm them."
"Well, they're going to disarm because they said they were going to disarm, and if they don't disarm, we will disarm them," Trump told journalists while hosting Argentine President Javier Milei at the White House.
"I don't have to explain that to you, but if they don't disarm, we will disarm them. They know I'm not playing games. OK?"
He also admitted the terrorist group "misrepresented" how many dead hostages' bodies it had in its possession after just four were handed over Monday.
"I spoke to Hamas, and I said, ‘You're going to disarm, right?' ‘Yes, sir, we're going to disarm.' That's what they told me. They will disarm or we will disarm them. Got it?"
Carville is not the only Democrat lauding Trump.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week called the agreement a major step toward stability in the Middle East.
"I really commend President Trump and his administration," Clinton said Friday.
"As well as Arab leaders in the region for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what's often called the day after," she added.
"Let's now support this process and bring it together, not just in a nonpartisan way in our own country, but literally internationally as a great global commitment to try to bring peace, security, stability, and a better future to the Middle East," Clinton said.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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