Trump: Gaza War is ‘hurting’ public opinion of Israel, says it should ‘get it over with’

As Israel is gradually intensifying the fighting in Gaza amid near-global condemnation, U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Jerusalem to wrap up the war to avoid taking further damage in the court of public opinion.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Daily Caller, Trump spoke about domestic issues and the Ukraine War before being asked about the rising number of Republicans, particularly in the younger cohort, who report having a negative view of Israel.

Trump was asked by journalist Reagan Reese: “A March Pew Poll found that 53% of surveyed U.S. adults had an unfavorable view of Israel up from 42% in 2022. Among young Republicans under 50, 50% have an unfavorable view of Israel. That’s up from 35% in 2022… Are you aware of this group? Are you worried about it?”

The president affirmed that he was aware, noting that “nobody has done more for Israel than I have, including the recent attacks with Iran, wiping that thing out.”

“If you go back 20 years. I will tell you, Israel had the strongest lobby in Congress of anything or body, or of any company or corporation or state that I’ve ever seen. Israel was the strongest. Today, it doesn’t have that strong a lobby,” said Trump.

“There was a time where you couldn’t speak bad, if you wanted to be a politician, you couldn’t speak badly [against Israel]. But today, you have, you know, AOC [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] plus three, and you have all these lunatics, and they’ve really changed it.”

While support from the Trump administration and most Republicans has remained solid, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, has recently claimed Israel was committing “genocide” in Gaza, becoming the first Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives to use that term against Israel.

In addition, well-known Trump allies like Steven Bannon and Tucker Carlson have swung decisively against Israel, with the former Fox News host Carlson even interviewing Holocaust deniers on his platform on 𝕏.

Trump continued to explain that around 15 years ago, Israel had “total control over Congress, and now they don’t.”

“People, they forgot about October 7th. You know, October 7th was a truly horrible day, because I’ve seen the pictures,” he emphasized.

“And you know, you have people that deny it ever happened. You have people that deny the Holocaust ever happened,” Trump said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed he is aware of Trump’s position during a security cabinet meeting on Monday, where he told ministers that the U.S. wants Israel to avoid signing another partial hostage deal.

“Forget the partial deals. Go in with full force. Finish it,” Netanyahu reportedly quoted US President Donald Trump as saying.

Concluding his interview, President Trump reiterated: “So, they’re gonna have to get that war over with. But it is hurting Israel. There’s no question about it. They may be winning the war, but they’re not winning the world of public relations, and it is hurting them.”