On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” White House National Security Adviser Michael Waltz said that those who wanted a ceasefire in Gaza are “now completely opposed to President Trump being the president of peace and ending the war in Ukraine.” And “Hamas has to be destroyed.”
Waltz said, “[T]he same party that has been pounding the table and waving their hands in the air for a ceasefire, demanding it, including Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, what have you, in Gaza, is now completely opposed to President Trump being the president of peace and ending the war in Ukraine.”
Waltz added that there were no invasions during the first Trump term, “Putin is clearly emboldened by perceived weakness and deterred by strength. And he understands President Donald J. Trump will go toe-to-toe with him, with Xi, with Kim Jong-un, or anyone else. But President Trump also prefers diplomacy.”
After the discussion turned to the Middle East, Waltz stated, “Hamas has to be destroyed. We’ll continue to enter into some type of negotiation to get as many hostages out, but, at the end of the day, Gaza will be ruled by Hamas no more, who has repeatedly said their full intent is to have more October 7ths, more attacks, they fully intend to continue to attack Israel if allowed to remain in place. And we stand with Israel in making sure that doesn’t happen.”
Later, during an interview on NewsNation’s “On Balance,” host Leland Vittert asked, “You say Hamas has got to go. That’s only going to happen with military force. Are we to understand that…the United States supports Israel if they want to restart the war and go after Hamas or the United States is encouraging Israel to restart the war and go after Hamas?”
Waltz responded, “Well, there [are] a number of options, and those discussions are ongoing. Heck, somewhere in between. Maybe some of their senior leadership sees now that they have no option, Hezbollah is not coming to save them, Iran is in a weakened state, Assad has fallen, they are completely isolated. Perhaps, they go to Iran, go to some other place. But, at the end of the day, they won’t rule Gaza. And we will certainly support Israel in that regard.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
