The Six Day Peace
Yet another Trump failure.
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It was only seven days ago that Donald Trump announced the first phase of a peace deal between the Israeli government and Hamas had officially gone into effect.
The remaining living Israeli hostages were released on Oct. 13th after nearly two years in captivity. Netanyahu had agreed to draw back Israeli troops to agreed upon lines. Humanitarian aid would soon flood into Gaza.
Trump took a highly publicized victory lap.
He first traveled to Jerusalem and delivered a celebratory speech to the Knesset—the Israeli Congress—where, among other things, he inappropriately called upon President Isaac Herzog to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his many pending charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
He then went on to Egypt for what was billed as the “2025 Gaza Peace Summit,” where representatives from thirty nations and several international organizations had gathered—absent Israel and Hamas—to toast the end of hostilities.
It was there that he declared to the world that the war in Gaza had come to an end and boasted it was “the historic dawn of a new Middle East.”
I don’t mind saying that a small part of me hoped he was right. As relieved as I was that the hostages had finally been released and the killing of Palestinian civilians had temporarily been halted and humanitarian assistance would soon be on the way, a small part of me hoped this might be the first time Trump followed through.
And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to accept it. Like any rational adult observing the Trump administration, it had all the usual Donnie hallmarks of a shameless PR campaign that was thin on salient, constructive details. It felt like another big Trump lie, and I did my best to ignore that gut feeling.
Let’s wait and see, I thought. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he actually did it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be wrong about Trump for once?
Many of our democracy’s grand stewards in legacy media did not take that approach, eager as they were to seize upon the opportunity to praise Trump, immediately putting him on a pedestal. A number of political reporters hailed the claimed peace deal. Beltway newsletters framed it as his crowning foreign policy achievement.
TIME Magazine rather boldly put Trump on its latest cover with the headline “His Triumph” and sub-header articles “The Leader Israel Needed” and “How Gaza Heals” — although Trump himself was none-too-pleased with the photo they used.
The Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker wrote a fawning op-ed that aged about as well as milk left out in the D.C. summer heat:
In announcing the signing of his eponymous peace declaration, Trump was the president we’ve been waiting for. (If you keep rolling your eyes like that, they might freeze, you know.) He spoke eloquently and stayed on point. He was deferential, humble and respectful toward leaders from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, who had joined him for the signing… […] …Biblical is the word that comes to mind. Miraculous is another, considering Trump’s achievement in ending the conflict. More than a feather in his cap, the peace declaration is a gift to the Middle East and the world.
She published that on Friday, even while there were reports of Hamas executing innocent civilians and claims by Gaza that the Israeli government had already violated the ceasefire agreement several dozen times.
And then, yesterday—predictably and tragically—the whole thing fell apart.
The “peace deal” lasted six days.
Six. Days.
Israel launched its heaviest bombardment on Gaza since the ceasefire took effect and suspended humanitarian aid following two of its soldiers being killed by Hamas, which followed the Israeli military allegedly murdering Palestinian civilians, which followed…, etc. etc. etc.
The Gaza blame game is an endless maze of finger-pointing, this begat that and that begat this, on and on and on, responsibility being nowhere in sight. It’s all a dry seabed of funhouse mirages in the desert, and the inclination to care about the slaughter of innocent people anywhere is greeted with compounding sleights-of-hand everywhere.
Trump did not achieve lasting peace in Gaza. He didn’t achieve a week of peace in Gaza, just like we all knew he wouldn’t. Because Trump only cares about Trump, and whatever narrative can be wrangled in support of Trump is what he’s going with, regardless of the consequences.
He lied about the success of taking out Iran’s nuclear weapons program. He’s lied, many times over, about his support for Ukraine. He’s lied consistently about his communications and negotiations with world leaders. He lied about the tariffs and he lied about the trade wars and he lied about Hegseth’s competence on national security and he lied about… well.. we could be here a while itemizing all this, couldn’t we?
Meanwhile, Trump carried out yet another attack on a civilian vessel just off the coast of Venezuela this past week. That makes six such attacks—and 27 people killed—since early September, all of them supposedly targeting drug smugglers, though it remains unclear what evidence, if any, there is to support that claim.
His administration announced that two survivors of this latest attack are being repatriated to their home countries rather than being prosecuted by the U.S. government. No further information has been offered.
That’s another way of saying the Trump admin more than likely conducted an illegal operation based on bad intelligence and murdered innocent people.
Because Trump lies. That’s what he does.
This is the disgusting excuse for a human being in which so much of legacy media has placed all their hopes to save the Middle East.
They never learn, and I’m not sure they want to.
There is no doubt in my mind that he still intends to make Gaza into a seaside resort.
I agree with you 100%!