LOS ANGELES.–In a strange reversal of fortunes, 78-year-old President-elect Donald Trump receives some favorable reporting in the fake news, where NBC News reported that Trump has played a key role in moving the needle closer to ending the Gaza war and release of remaining Israeli and U.S. hostages. Since Trump won the Nov. 5 election, the first signs emerged in ordinarily negative reporting about Trump with NBC acknowledging that Trump has played a role in moving Hamas to compromise on releasing the hostages. “If the hostages are not released prior to Jan. 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States, there will be HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity,” Trump said. Biden administration officials led by 63-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken, welcomed Trump’s involvement.
White House officials have ignored Trump overtures to end the Ukraine War but, now out of the blue, welcome Trump’s help in completing a ceasefire deal in Gaza before 82-year-old President Joe Biden leaves office. If Biden thinks it’s OK to use Trump to get something done in Gaza, why aren’t the White House using Trump to get a ceasefire deal in Ukraine? “There is a confidence we have not seen since May when the president [Joe Biden] present his proposal,” said an unnamed Biden administration official, admitting, for the first time, that Trump played “a big factor” in reported concessions by Hamas. “Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire world, in the Middle East—but it’s all talk and no action!” Trump posted on Truth Social. White House officials want to use Trump to get their deal in Gaza.
If the White House invites Trump to get involved in Gaza, why wouldn’t they want him to do the same in Ukraine? Ukraine War is far more dangerous than anything happening in Gaza, an isolated part of the Middle East that has no national security significance except to Israel. Biden’s war in Ukraine has undermined U.S.-Russian relations to a lower point than the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 72, has warned the U.S. and NATO that Ukraine could morph into a global conflict, with Biden giving Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky the green light to use long range U.S. missiles to attack targets deep inside the Russian Federation. Meeting in Paris Dec. 7 for the re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral, Trump called, with Zelensky present, for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. Why does Biden want Trump’s help in Gaza but not in Ukraine?
Democrats and the U.S. media have played spoilers in the 2024 campaign, working feverishly to see 60-year-old Vice President Kamala Harris elected. Since the Nov. 5 election, Kamala has watched her approval ratings drop to the pre-campaign levels of 36%, the lowest of any Vice President in U.S. history. Democrats and the press are now pivoting to the recognize that Trump will be inaugurated in a month with a 54% approval rating, seemingly rising by the day. So all the fake news negative reporting must pivot or risk more alienation from a national TV audience. Anti-Trump stations like CNN and MSNBC has already seen a 50% drop in viewership, with the audience realizing that they were gaslighted during the 2024 campaign. Once Trump won the race, otherwise Trump-hating networks had to pivot to continue their viability in the news business.
Suddenly, Sullivan said his team is working closely with the new national security team Trump has put in place. “We talk to them about how we can send a common message that the United States, no matter who’s sitting in the Oval Office, no matter who’s party is in charge, wants to see the ceasefire and hostage deal and see it now, that is all part the American contribution to an effort to ultimately produce an out here,” Sullivan said in Tel Aviv. “And we’re going to keep working until we get it done,” Sullivan said. So, what’s changed now that Sullivan knows he’ll be out Jan. 20, 2025? Sullivan has consistently shown his partisanship during his four years in the Cabinet, doing everything possible to invalidate Trump’s past foreign policies. Now that he’s leaving his job, suddenly he wants a bipartisan approach to the Gaza War, once blaming Israel for the obstacle.
Whatever happens or doesn’t happen in Gaza, the White House security team should encourage Trump to end the Ukraine War. Biden has done nothing but make things worse for Ukraine, telling Zelensky it’s OK to start firing U.S. missiles deep into Russia. Trump has a plan to end the Ukraine War. White House officials should coordinate with Trump and his national security team to end the Ukraine War. Trump has said repeatedly he wants to end the Ukraine war over the kicking-and-screaming of Zelensky and war hawks in Congress. Biden was the first and only U.S. president to go to war with the Kremlin, destroying decades to diplomacy, détente and arms control. Trump sees the Ukraine war as damaging U.S. foreign policy and national security and seeks a political settlement regardless of the eventual deal that has Ukraine forfeiting sovereign territory.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
