Trump, breaking with Netanyahu, acknowledges ‘real starvation’ in Gaza
The president promises the U.S. will work with Europe to get aid to Gaza amid growing humanitarian crisis.
President Donald Trump, right, speaks with the media as he greets Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Trump Turnberry golf course in Turnberry, Scotland, July 28, 2025. | AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin
By Myah Ward
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/2 ... dF1uQWTHbw
07/28/2025
EDINBURGH, Scotland — President Donald Trump on Monday said he will work with European allies to
in Gaza, disagreeing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assessment that there is “no starvation” in the war-torn strip.set up food centers
Trump said.Based on television, … those children look very hungry,
Trump later added:But we’re giving a lot of money and a lot of food, and other nations are now stepping up.
The president’s remarks, which came during a bilateral meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Trump’s golf resort in Turnberry, were far more critical of the Netanyahu strategy than he was just a few days ago when he left for his trip to Scotland. They also come as Israel faces growing condemnation from some of the U.S.’s closest allies.Some of those kids are — that’s real starvation stuff.
Even as Trump again dismissed the idea of recognizing Palestine as a state, he seemed unbothered by European allies doing so.
More than 200 members of the British parliament signed a letter Friday calling for the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state. Starmer, last week, said
and called statehood https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brus ... on-israel/the suffering and starvation unfolding in Gaza is unspeakable and indefensible,
French President Emmanuel Macron last week announced https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/worl ... -gaza.html that France would recognize the state of Palestine.the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.
The United Kingdom, France and Germany also issued a joint statement Friday calling for an end to the war and for Israel to
Trump, on Monday, repeated his concern that some of the food aid was stolen by Hamas, though multiple media outlets https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/worl ... theft.html have debunked or cast doubt on that claim.lift restrictions on the flow of aid.
On Saturday, as criticism intensified and images of dead and malnourished children were shared around the world, Israel Defense Forces announced aid airdrops would begin Saturday evening and that humanitarian corridors for United Nations convoys would be opened. But Israel has continued to contend that there is “no starvation” and that such claims were being propagated by Hamas.
Trump, however, appeared unnerved by the images he’d seen.
Trump said.I see it, and you can’t fake that,
Starmer has not put a timeline on when the U.K. would recognize a state of Palestine, but he told Trump on Monday that what’s happening in Gaza is anSo, we’re going to be even more involved.
absolute catastrophe.
Starmer said.And I think people in Britain are revolted at what they’re seeing on their screens,
Trump, who told reporters Sunday that he spoke with Netanyahu over the weekend, said he told the Israeli leader that his approach may have to change and criticized Hamas for not releasing the remaining hostages.So we’ve got to get to that ceasefire. And thank you, Mr. President, for leading on that, and also to just get more and more aid in.
Trump said.I told Israel, I told Bibi, that you have to now maybe do it a different way,