The Media Line: President Trump Aboard Air Force One Told Journalists He Would Like To Visit Gaza, Says Qatar ‘Really Helped Us’ 

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President Trump Aboard Air Force One Told Journalists He Would Like To Visit Gaza, Says Qatar ‘Really Helped Us’ 

When asked how Qatar has changed since President Trump accused the country in 2017 of funding terror, he responded, ‘I didn’t know them well then.’ 

By The Media Line Staff 

Aboard Air Force One en route to Israel to witness the release of 20 living hostages and then to the Egypt peace summit, US President Donald Trump spoke to journalists about the 20-point plan to end the war and free hostages, his vision for the postwar Middle East as well as tariffs and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.  

He declared the Israel-Hamas war over, said his ceasefire will hold, praised Qatar’s role, outlined plans for Gaza’s reconstruction and governance, and said he would be “proud” to visit Gaza himself. 

President Trump opened by contrasting Washington’s 10-day government funding impasse with what he called the far harder task of ending a conflict “going on for 3,000 years.” He said the military is “paid in full,” that his team is eliminating programs “we never wanted,” describing them as Democrat-backed, and labeled the standoff a “Schumer shutdown,” arguing Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is “trying to make himself relevant again.” 

Turning to the “historic peace deal” he is traveling to formalize, President Trump said the political mood is unlike anything he’s seen. He insisted “everybody is happy—Jewish, Muslim, Arab countries,” claiming scenes of “dancing in the streets” across the region. Asked whether the war is truly over—after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refrained from saying so—President Trump was emphatic: “The war is over. Do you understand that? The ceasefire is going to hold.” He attributed durability to exhaustion on all sides, saying conflict has lasted “centuries” and people are “tired of it.” 

Pressed on what Gaza will look like “tomorrow,” President Trump said an international stabilization force is part of the plan but predicted minimal need to deploy it: “Everybody knows their place.” He said reconstruction begins “essentially immediately,” describing the territory as a “demolition site” with unsafe structures that must be cleared. A one-year transformation is “very quick,” he said, but over time Gaza has “the first chance in centuries of being peaceful,” adding that normalization would be “fantastic.” 

On governance, President Trump said the new “Board of Peace” will form “very quickly,” insisting “everybody wants to be a part of it,” including heads of government personally. He confirmed discussions involving figures such as former UK prime minister Tony Blair but said he wants to ensure Blair would be “acceptable to everybody” before naming him. As for assurances, President Trump said he has “a lot of verbal guarantees … not down in writing,” but delivered by leaders who “aren’t going to want to disappoint me,” which he believes will make the deal stick. 

Asked about Hamas activity reports—rearming, policing, shooting arrivals— President Trump framed near-term order as a transitional necessity, saying authorities were “given approval for a period of time” to prevent crime as nearly 2 million people return to ruined neighborhoods. He said Hamas has “lost probably 60,000 people,” calling it “a lot of retribution,” and emphasized the priority is safety amid rubble and displacement. 

On hostages, President Trump said all 20 are in hand and hinted their release could be “a little early,” crediting US involvement in locating captives in “deep, deep, deep” hiding places. He rejected former Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s suggestion that the agreement builds on the prior administration’s work: “Everybody knows that’s a joke.” He blamed “bad policy” by former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama for the war and said similar missteps fueled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He contrasted his rapport with regional leaders—“I resonated with the Arab leaders, the Muslim leaders, and the Jewish leaders”—with what he described as Biden’s poor ties with Netanyahu and policy of “backing Iran.” 

President Trump praised Qatar at length, saying the emir “really helped us,” calling Qatar’s role “tremendous” and “very brave” given its geography “right in the middle of everything.” Katie Pavlich, editor of Townhall.com, asked pointedly whether Qatar has changed since 2017, when he accused it of funding terrorism, he answered that he “didn’t really know them very well” then, adding that over time he came to understand their position “in the middle” of competing pressures. He also credited Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Indonesia, saying “countries that never got along came together.” 

Questioned whether he would visit Gaza, President Trump said yes: “I’d be proud to… I’d like to put my feet on it, at least.” He called the decades ahead “a great miracle,” cautioning against moving “too fast,” arguing progress must proceed “at the right speed.” 

On Netanyahu, President Trump said relations are “very good,” noting the prime minister recently put him forward for the Nobel Peace Prize. He called Netanyahu “the right person at this time,” said past disagreements were “quickly settled,” and contrasted that cooperation with Netanyahu’s “no good” relationship with Biden. He also asserted that taking out “the Iran nuclear facility” removed a “dark cloud” that otherwise would have hung over the deal, claiming Iran could have had a nuclear weapon within two months. 

On broader geopolitics, President Trump said he intends to end the war in Ukraine and argued tariffs give the United States leverage. He brushed off criticism from Politico as “fake news,” reaffirmed his plan for 100 percent tariffs on China beginning November 1—while calling that date “an eternity” and therefore flexible—and said his relationship with China’s Xi Jinping remains strong despite tough statements. He credited tariffs with helping him “settle a few of the wars.” 

When Peter Doocy of Fox News reminded President Trump about his oft-quoted line that ending the Ukraine war might help him “get into heaven,” President Trump joked he is “not maybe heaven-bound,” quipped he “may be in heaven right now” flying on Air Force One, and returned to a theme that the 2020 election was “rigged,” asserting millions died because of “an incompetent administration.” 

On Ukraine specifics, President Trump said he spoke with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy twice in the past two days. He said the United States is not sending weapons directly; instead, “NATO pays us 100 percent for the weapons, and then they send them into Ukraine.” He said Ukraine “needs Patriots very badly” and “would like tomahawks,” adding he might have to “speak to Russia” first because tomahawks are “a new step of aggression.” He said he could tell Moscow that if the war is not settled, the United States “may very well” provide them—“we may not, but we may do it”—framing it as pressure to reach a deal. 

President Trump wrapped with a reminder of his immediate mission: meet freed hostages and Israeli leaders, then fly to Sharm El Sheikh for the summit hosted by Egypt’s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. He repeated that “a great deal is where everybody is happy,” insisting the region has reached a “unique period in time” and closing with the same unequivocal verdict he offered at the start: “The war is over.”