Highlights from G7: Trump’s Damning Statements about Israel in Lebanon

Peloni:  During a meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Trump gave some frank and revealing statements.  Highlights below.

This is a damning reproach of Israel and its handling of the war in Lebanon and Trump argues on behalf of Turkey’s puppet in Syria, Jolani, to be trusted with doing a better job in dealing with Hezbollah without “killing everyone”.  Here is a key excerpt from Trump:

“I’ve had a great relationship with BB, but now BB has to uh be more responsible with respect to Lebanon. Lebanon used to be a great country. It was a country where you had professors, doctors, lawyers.  The great intellect was in Lebanon. Now it’s just it’s terrible. I would say of all countries they’ve been treated the worst and they can’t defend themselves and they have Hezbollah which is a problem for them. So uh no I’m not happy with the way Israel has handled themselves with Lebanon and with Hezbollah.”

Additional highlights below with Editorial remarks following.

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US–Qatar Relations and Investment

• Trump began exchanging kind remarks with the Qatari Emir regarding Qatar’s role in supporting US efforts in the recent war as well as Qatar’s significant role as a major investor in the US.

Iran and the Nuclear Agreement

• Trump described the central objective of the agreement with Iran is to ensure that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon while stressing that Iran would not be permitted to develop, purchase, acquire, or otherwise obtain nuclear weapons.
• Trump further warned that Iran would face severe consequences if any effort was discovered by Iran trying to acquire nuclear weapons.
• Trump expressed optimism about working with what he described as a more pragmatic Iranian leadership than previous generations of leaders.

Views on Regime Change in Iran

• Trump said he does not support externally imposed regime change, arguing that such efforts historically have not worked.
• He suggested that leadership changes in Iran had already occurred following the deaths or removal of earlier decision-makers.

Human Rights in Iran

• Trump referenced the deaths of Iranian protesters and criticized past repression by Iranian authorities.
• When asked whether human rights concerns could affect the agreement, he acknowledged the issue but indicated that the most severe abuses occurred under the previous leadership.

Economic Prospects for Iran

• Trump said Iran could benefit economically if their cooperation continues and if it complies with the current agreement, while Qatar’s Emir emphasized that the immediate priority was seeing an end to the conflict.

US Economy and Manufacturing

• Trump highlighted what he described as a resurgence of US manufacturing, while also arguing that tariffs are encouraging companies to build factories in the US
• Trump predicted a US semiconductor production capacity would significantly grow during his presidency.

Ukraine War

• Trump said he had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and planned another meeting later in the day.
• He said both Russia and Ukraine continue to suffer heavy casualties and urged a negotiated settlement.
• Trump noted a recent conversation with Vladimir Putin and expressed frustration that the conflict has proven difficult to resolve.

Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Syria

• Trump characterized Iran as the major regional issue while describing the conflict with Hezbollah as a smaller but persistent problem [while ignoring any mention of Hezbollah’s role in the South American drug trade]
• He praised the Syrian Pres. Jolani, describing him as having “protected everything that I have asked for”.
• Trump further suggest that Syria would be a better choice for dealing with Hezbollah and indicated as much to Netanyahu.
• Trump also criticized Israel’s strike in Beirut which occurred just shortly before the Iran agreement was finalized, describing it as “vicious” and “too much” [Ed.:  Trump ignores that the strike in Beirut was a surgical strike.]  He further criticized Israel for the campaign against Hezbollah lasting too long and causing excessive destruction.
• He insists that Bibi has to be “more responsible about Lebanon”.

Israel and Netanyahu

• Trump maintains that he has a strong relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, but nonetheless, expressed dissatisfaction with certain Israeli actions in Lebanon.
• He said Israel should have resolved the Hezbollah issue more quickly and with less collateral damage.
• Trump argued that prolonged fighting in Lebanon risks undermining broader regional diplomatic efforts, particularly the Iran agreement.

Assessment of Past Iran Policy

• Trump sharply criticized the 2015 nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) explaining that the current deal will prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb, while Obama made it certain that they would obtain one.
• He explained that the reason he quit the JCPOA was that it enabled Iran to obtain nuclear weapons .
• Trump credited both the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and subsequent military action against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure with preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed state.

Regional Security

• Trump claimed that Iranian missile attacks during the conflict targeted several Gulf states in addition to Israel, and that these attacks helped strengthen cooperation between the United States and its regional partners.

Editor notes:  Israel has been highly responsible in its execution of the war in Lebanon, both in protecting the lives of civilians and Israelis.  It was due to the marked increase in terrorist attacks on the Israeli population which drew the IDF into Lebanon and which drew the IDF targeting Hezbollah’s command center in Beirut, which Trump fails to acknowledge once in his rebuke of Israel’s “vicious” attack which was in fact a surgical strike there.

Regarding Syria, it is run by an Islamist govt which does not respect the right and lives of minorities, and which has conducted genocidal murder sprees since the regime seized power, even though Trump asserts that Jolani has done what has been asked of him.  Jolani is himself a product of Turkish support, without which he would not have evaded US justice for his role in the murder of US servicemen.  Jolani can NOT be allowed to take part in Lebanon for the very reason that it would bring his Turkish proxy forces to the border with Israel in real time with Erdogan’s persistent fantasies of conquering Israel.

With regards to the Trump and Obama deals, it must be clarified that Obama sought a dominating role for Iran in the region with financial support and diplomatic cover for both its nuclear project and its missile program, both of which threaten Israel, the West, and America.  While Trump asserts his is a better deal, the problem which he ignores is that no deal can be trusted to prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power because doing so is a pivotal aspect of supporting their Armegeddonist ideology, and because no deal can provide comprehensive safeguards against Iran secretly developing such a weapon.  More than this, the CIA Director Ratcliffe has noted that Iran has no intention of giving up on its nuclear ambitions.  Furthermore, just as Obama’s deal did, Trump appears to have completely ignored the relevance and importance of Iran’s missile program.