Is Trump a Peacemaker or a Warmonger?

Donald Trump made it clear during his inauguration that he wanted to be remembered in history as a “peacemaker,” in contrast to his predecessor’s legacy of fueling wars across the globe. He took pride in the pressure he exerted that led to a ceasefire agreement between Palestinians and Israelis just a day before his inauguration, boasting that he had accomplished in a short period what Biden had failed to achieve over months of brutal war.

In various press conferences, Trump spoke about the destruction in Gaza and vowed to assist in its reconstruction with the help of regional partners. To ensure the ceasefire’s sustainability, his special envoy, Mr. Whitcoff, has been directly overseeing the implementation of the agreements on the ground. He even announced his intention to visit Gaza personally to assess the devastation left by the war.

We initially welcomed Trump’s position and that of his special envoy, as they appeared unwilling to perpetuate the bloodshed, destruction, and forced displacement. However, in their public addresses, they deliberately avoided mentioning the suffering of the Palestinian people during the 15-month-long genocide. Instead, Trump highlighted minor details about Israeli suffering, such as an image of a recently released Israeli detainee who had lost a finger.

Trump and his envoy, as described by media reports, approached these critical issues with an aggressive business mindset. They openly pressured the Palestinian side with threats while subtly, and sometimes explicitly, pressuring Netanyahu behind closed doors. This resulted in Netanyahu’s reluctant acceptance of the ceasefire agreement.

However, Netanyahu’s acceptance of the deal was not without strings attached. As soon as Trump assumed office, he issued an executive order lifting all sanctions imposed by the previous administration on settlers and entities accused of violent aggression against Palestinians. In exchange, Netanyahu was given free rein in the West Bank, launching a massive military campaign dubbed “Iron Swords”—a war still ongoing, with its declared objective being the elimination of so-called “outlaws.”

Throughout the genocide in Gaza, arms shipments from the West, primarily the United States, never ceased. Without this support, Netanyahu could not have continued his atrocities. Yet, as international pressure mounted, some nations, including Britain, made symbolic gestures by halting certain arms exports. Biden, too, decided to suspend the delivery of 1,800 MK-84 bombs, each weighing 2,000 pounds, citing their catastrophic human toll.

Despite this symbolic decision, made in May last year, it had no tangible impact on the war’s outcome. Israel’s war machine continued relentlessly, bombarding Gaza by land, sea, and air with countless tons of explosives, committing massacres that drastically increased the death toll and destruction across the Strip. The ceasefire, which came into effect on January 19, 2025, seemingly included an undisclosed provision lifting the ban on MK-84 bombs.

Israeli officials revealed to the media outlet “Expos” last Friday that the Trump administration had reversed Biden’s decision and that a shipment of the deadly bombs was already en route to Israel. These post-ceasefire actions, along with Trump’s appointment of staunchly pro-Israel officials who deny Palestinian rights, expose his deceptive nature and alignment with Zionist extremists. Trump does not seek to be remembered as a peacemaker under international law but rather according to the ideological doctrines outlined in religious texts.

Nothing exemplifies this better than Trump’s shocking statement about discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egyptian President Sisi regarding relocating “some” of Gaza’s residents to Jordan and Egypt. He claimed that Gaza was “uninhabitable” and that its people had endured “hell” for years, assuming that the Jordanian and Egyptian leaders would agree to such a project. However, it remains unclear how Trump reached this conclusion, as both countries have officially opposed forced displacement.

For decades, Israel has attempted to implement forced displacement, whether through military aggression or the gradual expansion of settlements, making life unbearable for Palestinians in hopes they would leave voluntarily. Yet, these schemes have failed time and again. Palestinians remain steadfast in their homeland, and those displaced by force refuse resettlement in host countries, clinging to their right of return.

Jordan, hosting the largest Palestinian refugee population outside Palestine since the Nakba of 1948 and the 1967 war, has consistently rejected these forced migration plans. During the genocide in Gaza, both Jordan and Egypt reaffirmed their opposition. Sisi, in an indifferent tone, dismissed Netanyahu’s proposal to transfer Gazans, stating, “If Israel wants to move them, let them move them within Palestine until they finish eliminating the Palestinian factions and then return them!”

Trump’s blatant advocacy for ethnic cleansing demands an explicit response from the Jordanian and Egyptian leaderships to dispel any ambiguity. Leaving the matter unaddressed only fuels speculation, especially as Trump implied their approval. Yet, to this day, neither country has issued a direct statement refuting his claim—only vague declarations from their foreign ministries reiterating their stance against displacement and affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination.

The silence from international and regional actors on this matter is deafening. The UN, the European Union, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation have all buried their heads in the sand, failing to issue clear statements rejecting such projects that blatantly contradict international law and peace efforts.

For the world’s most powerful leader to propose such a dangerous scheme so brazenly reveals his disregard for Middle Eastern security and stability. It reflects an imperial mindset that views the region’s people as disposable, echoing the colonialist logic of early settlers who built their nations on the bones of indigenous populations.

The Palestinian people, emerging from genocide and striving to rebuild their lives, categorically reject forced displacement. They are determined to reconstruct what was destroyed and to thwart Netanyahu’s efforts to undermine the ceasefire. His government is already attempting to sabotage the agreement by preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, a clear indication of his malicious intentions to resume killing, destruction, and ethnic cleansing.

Trump’s policies and forced migration project align with Netanyahu’s strategy of reigniting war in Gaza. A true peacemaker would not supply a war machine with lethal bombs, endorse ethnic cleansing, or unleash settler violence in the West Bank under the guise of “law enforcement.”

The sight of tens of thousands of Palestinians defying Israeli bullets to return to their destroyed homes in northern Gaza is the strongest rejection of Trump’s vision. These people, who endured 15 months of unimaginable suffering, will never abandon their homeland. Even those displaced since 1948 continue to demand their right to return to their cities and villages in historic Palestine.

To counter such dangerous proposals, the international community must work to reinforce the fragile ceasefire by ramping up humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts. Immediate steps should include providing temporary housing, mobile hospitals, restoring essential services like electricity and water, deploying medical teams, and evacuating the wounded.

Gaza deserves a dedicated international or regional conference to mobilize support for urgent relief and reconstruction—just as the world has done for crises far less severe. Such a move would send a clear message of solidarity to Gaza’s residents and signal to Netanyahu and his backers that returning to war is neither viable nor acceptable.

While Middle Eastern regimes may submit to Trump’s coercion and pay billions in tributes for his favor, the people of the region—led by Palestinians—resolutely reject his forced migration schemes. They are the rightful owners of their lands, not transient migrants seeking new pastures.

In Arab culture, homeland is not a suitcase to be carried away. It is an emotional and spiritual bond, an identity. The notion that Palestinians would abandon their land after enduring genocide proves the shortsightedness of these schemes. The Palestinian people have already resisted Netanyahu’s ethnic cleansing attempts, and Trump’s vision is destined to fail just as miserably.

If Trump truly seeks peace in the region, he must abandon the delusions of extremist Zionists, prioritize the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement, and resist Netanyahu’s persistent efforts to undermine it—just as he continues to do in southern Lebanon today.

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Sunna Files Website, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.