Reporter Presses State Department Spokesman Over Trump's Comments On PM Keir Starmers Palestine Recognition Plan

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State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about Prime Minister Keir Starmer's announcement that the UK will recognize Palestine as a state in September if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire.

Transcript

00:00Yes, Abby.

00:01What is the U.S. position on the U.K. saying they will recognize the health community

00:04before the U.N. this September?

00:07I know my colleague brought it up, but considering they're using it as leverage to try to stop

00:12some of the starvation that President Trump himself said he's concerned about taking place

00:17in Gaza.

00:18Well, I think President Rubio's statement and my statement that I issued regarding the

00:24conference, the two-state solution, the fact of the matter is his remarks also

00:29when President Macron of France also did something similar in this regard, that this is a slap

00:38in the face to the victims of October 7th, that it rewards Hamas, and it harms the ability

00:44to stop this framework from – it allows it to continue.

00:51It gives one group hope, and that's Hamas.

00:55It is a rewarding of that kind of behavior, that if you wait long enough, if you don't

01:01cooperate, if – in any other normal environment where someone was so utterly defeated, they

01:08would surrender.

01:10In this case, that just does not occur.

01:13And part of it is because of perhaps the hope that they receive on how long the suffering

01:19lasts, how much that pushes the world to acquiesce to their arguments.

01:26And that – that is – there's one group that benefits from the images and the reality

01:31of the horribleness, and that's Hamas.

01:34And so there's a reason why they don't cooperate and stop.

01:36And this adds one more thing onto it that adds into their apparent posture that this is

01:45a winning thing to do.

01:47Clearly, we are of the opposite mind, and that I think we can say in general about that issue.

01:53One more thing.

01:53President Trump said he didn't mind the UK prime minister taking a position on statehood.

01:59Is that – can you explain what the difference is there?

02:03Well, I – obviously, I'm not going to speculate on the President's reasoning.

02:07But I do know that he – none of us are in the business of telling people not to speak

02:14their mind.

02:15At the same time, I'm a big believer, as I know the Secretary is and the President is,

02:20and we showed this, I think, last November, is that persuading people, explaining your position,

02:26why it matters, how it impacts what we all want to achieve, is something that we must

02:32do, and that it's the way to persuade people, to change people's minds.

02:37And so it doesn't surprise me that that is what he said.

02:41But, of course, we also know, as I described, the nature of our situation here, about what

02:48that does in our efforts to stop the carnage.

02:51Yes.

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