Türkiye and Israel will not have a problem, U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida.
“Netanyahu and (President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan are not going to have a problem,” Trump told reporters when asked about the potential conflict between Israel and Türkiye.
“I know Erdoğan very well and as you all know, he’s a good friend of mine. I believe him and I respect him. So does Netanyahu,” Trump said, despite strained ties between Ankara and Tel Aviv over the latter’s genocidal war in Gaza and attacks in war-ravaged Syria.
“We’re not going to have a problem,” Trump said of Türkiye and Israel. “Nothing’s going to happen.”
When asked on the potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, a long-stalled business that often strained ties between Ankara and Washington, Trump also said they were “seriously thinking about it.”
Washington removed Türkiye from the development of the F-35, a top-of-the-line stealth plane, in 2019 after the NATO ally went ahead with purchases of missile defense from Russia.
Trump added that it was Erdoğan who “helped very much get rid of a very bad ruler of Syria”.
Trump said he and Netanyahu had what he called an “understanding” regarding Syria.
He said he was sure that Israel and Syria’s new leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, whose forces ousted former dictator Bashar Assad last year, would get along.
“I will make it so that they do get along,” he said.
Netanyahu said Israel was keen to ensure a peaceful border with Syria. After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 agreement with Syria.
Israeli forces have carried out near-daily incursions in southern Syria in recent weeks, particularly in Quneitra province, conducting arrests, setting up checkpoints, and destroying forested areas, actions that have fueled growing local anger toward Israel.
On Gaza cease-fire process, Trump warned that Hamas would have “hell to pay” if it does not disarm quickly as part of the deal, which he said Israel was complying with.
"If they don't disarm as they agreed to do, then there will be hell to pay for them," Trump said. "They have to disarm in a fairly short period of time.”
Trump publicly threw his support behind Netanyahu, who has taken a hard line on moving to the next stage of the Gaza ceasefire plan, which calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza, without Hamas' participation, the formation of a multinational force, and the disarmament of Hamas.
"I'm not concerned about anything that Israel's doing," Trump said.
"I'm concerned about what other people are doing or maybe aren't doing. But I'm not concerned. They've lived up to the plan."
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to keep Gaza's crossings largely closed, preventing the entry of mobile homes and reconstruction materials and worsening the humanitarian crisis affecting over 2 million people. According to local media office, Israel has committed over 400 violations of the truce, killing at least 104 Palestinians since Oct. 10.
Trump continued by saying the U.S. and Israel do not agree “100%" on the West Bank but will ultimately reach a conclusion.
"We have had a discussion, big discussion, for a long time on the West Bank, and I wouldn't say we agree on the West Bank 100%, but we'll come to a conclusion," Trump said when asked if he is concerned about Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and whether he had conveyed a message to Netanyahu regarding the occupied territory.
"It'll be announced at an appropriate time, but he will do the right thing," he said.
Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000 and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, Palestinian figures showed.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
