There is great relief in the USA about the agreement in the Middle East. But success is contested: the outgoing President Biden sees it as the result of his efforts – his successor Trump as the merit of his hard line.
“I am deeply pleased that this day has finally come,” said President Joe Biden at the White House before his farewell address to the nation. The negotiations were among the toughest he had ever experienced. And when a reporter asked who deserved credit for the deal – him or Donald Trump, Biden responded curtly with the counter question: “Is that a joke?”
In fact, in the USA the sovereignty over the interpretation of the agreement reached has flared up. Trump and his supporters are convinced that it was Trump's pressure that made the success possible. The future president had threatened Hamas that all hell would break loose in the Middle East if the hostages were not released when he took office. It won't be good for Hamas, it won't be good for anyone, all hell will break loose, said Trump.
Now he wrote on his Truth Social platform that the ceasefire could only come about because of his historic election victory. And Trump's designated national security adviser, Mike Waltz, emphasized on CNN that if Trump had not been elected, this deal would not have moved forward and probably no hostage would have been rescued alive.
Negotiations for months
The Biden administration had been negotiating a ceasefire behind the scenes for months. And so Biden emphasized – right at the beginning of his farewell address to the nation – that the deal was based on a plan that he had already presented in May. The agreement was drawn up and negotiated under his government. However, the implementation now largely lies with the next government under Trump. And that's how we've spoken as a team in the past few days, Biden had previously explained.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was also involved in the talks in Doha. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed on Fox News that President Biden had directed the national security team to ensure that the Trump team, particularly Witkoff, could fully contribute.
Trump and Biden as a team?
Only a few people know exactly what happened at the negotiating tables. But the deal that came about is obviously also due to the cooperation of the current and future US government. Even if Biden and Trump hardly appear as a team, behind the scenes it seems to have worked.
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said he did not know whether it was unprecedented for envoys from the outgoing and new governments to sit at the same table and negotiate such a ceasefire. But if it's not a novelty, then it's certainly unusual.
