President Donald Trump suggested progress towards reaching a solution to the ongoing conflict in Gaza following a bilateral meeting Thursday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House, and appeared to suggest the leader was willing to help put more economic pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Trump said leaders were “getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza” after his meeting with Erdoğan, and added officials were speaking with "kings and all of the top leaders in the Middle East," as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday.
“We’re trying to get the end of the Gaza situation. It’s real, really bad, very bad. And we think it could happen, maybe it could happen pretty soon. We want the hostages back,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
While Trump said he had a “very good conversation” with Netanyahu, he said he “will not allow” Israel to annex the West Bank.
“It's not going to happen,” Trump said. “I'm not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank.”
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The new comment comes after a flurry of diplomatic activity on the heels of the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week, in which the President met with Erdogan and other Middle East leaders to discuss Gaza on the sidelines.
Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said they presented the “Trump 21-point plan for peace to the Mideast in Gaza.”
"It addresses Israeli concerns, as well the concerns of all the neighbors in the region. And we’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,” Witkoff said during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
In a joint statement following a multilateral meeting with Trump and U.S. officials at the U.N. earlier in the week, Arab leaders thanked Trump for his efforts and said they “reiterated the common position rejecting forced-displacement and the need to allow the return of those who left.”
The leaders “affirmed the need to ensure a comprehensive plan for reconstruction in Gaza,” their statement noted, and “expressed commitment to work together to ensure the success of plans and to rebuild the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.”
While Trump recognized Erdogan’s influence in the region, he also called him “very neutral” on the Russian-Ukraine war, and called for him to cut off purchases of Russian fossil fuels amid the White House’s effort to ramp up pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia,” Trump said at the start of their meeting, echoing a similar demand he’s made of European allies as he’s threatened to impose tougher economic penalties against Russia.
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Following the bilateral meeting between Turkey and the U.S., Trump suggested to reporters that he believed Erdogan could cease purchasing oil from Russia — a move that could provide significantly greater economic pressure on Putin as Russian fighters continue to bombard Ukraine.
“I don't want to say that, but if I want him to, he will, yeah,” Trump said when asked whether Erdogan committed to ceasing Russian oil purchases. “I didn't say, ‘Okay, you stop,’ but yeah I believe he will stop,” suggesting Turkey could buy from many other nations.
It comes as Trump has ramped up pressure on Putin, suggesting Ukraine could retake territory lost during the war. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform earlier this week that “I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
For months prior, Trump had said he believed some sort of land “swapping” was required, and that it was unlikely Ukraine would retain all its original territory.
American and Turkish leaders also signed a memorandum of understanding on civil nuclear cooperation. Turkey’s energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar wrote on X, “We have initiated a new process to further deepen the long-standing and multifaceted partnership between Türkiye and the United States in the field of nuclear energy,” though the details were not immediately clear.
Trump said the leaders also “had a very good conversation having to do with the purchase of military equipment.” He indicated the leaders had planned to discuss potential deals on F16 and F35 fighter aircraft as well as Patriot missile systems during their meeting.
Turkey was previously pushed out of the U.S.’ F35 program under the first Trump administration over it’s purchase of Russian defense equipment.
