I did not credit Trump with the Israel-Hamas deal. Part of my thinking was that Trump is like Frank Sinatra in the old Rodney Dangerfield joke. "Yeah, Frank saved my life one time. Two guys were beating me to death. Frank said, 'Alright, that's enough.'" Part of my thinking was I don't know how real this is. It was a twenty-point program, with one of Trump's tired take it or leave it warnings. Hamas has not agreed to all twenty points. Time and time again, we've seen Trump claim victory before the game was over. Most notably his incessant claims that he would end Russia's war on Ukraine, most recently right before heading to Alaska where Putin punked him again, when he called former NATO Sec. Gen., now Norwegian Finance Minister to lobby for the Nobel Peace Prize. With warranted wariness, I read Trump's latest victory speech: "Based on the Statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for a lasting PEACE. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza, so that we can get the Hostages out safely and quickly. Right now, it's far too dangerous to do that."
With that as context, I post this lede and article excerpts from the BBC:
Hamas response to US Gaza plan is significant - but there are key omissions
Hamas agreeing to release the remaining hostages, albeit subject to negotiations and certain conditions being met, will give real hope to the family members in Israel who have been desperate for this kind of news for a very long time.
In its statement responding to the US peace proposal, the group agreed to "release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Donald Trump's proposal, provided the field conditions for the exchange are met".
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The acceptance by Hamas of another key part of the US peace plan, the idea of handing over the governance of Gaza to Palestinian technocrats, is also clearly significant.
But there are plenty of other elements of the lengthy, 20-point proposal that are glaring by their absence.
The most notable of those is the requirement that Hamas lay down its arms.
The Israeli government will now be poring over the wording of the statement to glean the true intent.
It will need to decide whether it sees this as a genuine good faith acceptance of some of the key points of the deal, or merely an attempt to buy time and reopen long drawn out negotiations.
Given that it came just a few hours after President Donald Trump issued his final ultimatum for Hamas to agree by Sunday evening or face "all hell", some members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet are likely to be deeply sceptical.
That is particularly true now the US president has called on Israel to immediately stop the bombing of Gaza.
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The Israelis will not like...[Trump] suggesting Hamas would retain a role in negotiations over the long term future of Gaza.
The Hamas statement is significant no doubt.
But there is still a huge amount of detail to be worked through before peace in the region becomes anything like a reality. And the president appeared to acknowledge this was far from a done deal.
"We'll see how it all turns out," he said. "We have to get the final word down and concrete."
Yes, we will.
6:39 pm:
Trump orders Israel to stop bombing Gaza after Hamas partially accepts his peace planLest anyone think Israel is an independent state.
Lest anyone think we, the U.S., are not responsible for what our dependent, Israel, does and doesn't do.
Hamas responded Friday to President Donald Trump’s proposed plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, agreeing to give up power and release all remaining hostages but saying that other elements require further consultations among Palestinians.
Hamas reiterated its longstanding openness to handing power over to a politically independent Palestinian body. But it said aspects of the proposal touching on the future of Gaza and Palestinian rights should be decided on the basis of a “unanimous Palestinian stance” reached with other factions and based on international law.
9:42 am:
Trump charts path to total control amid government shutdown
President Trump is seizing on the government shutdown as an "unprecedented opportunity" to consolidate control in the Oval Office, accelerating a trend toward unchecked power.
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Goading Democrats, Trump flaunted Vought's role in Project 2025 ("he of PROJECT 2025 Fame") — the hard-right blueprint for expanding executive power that Trump disavowed on the campaign trail after it became a political liability.
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Legal challenges are inevitable: Congress controls the power of the purse, and federal officials privately have warned that Vought's plans for mass firings during the shutdown may violate appropriations law.
The big picture: As Axios has documented, the shutdown is only one front in Trump's broader campaign of consolidation.
Military: In an unprecedented partisan address this week, Trump told more than 800 generals and admirals to prepare for a "war" against domestic "enemies," urging them to treat America's cities as "training grounds."
Academia: The administration is asking universities to sign a 10-point "compact" that would grant preferential access to federal funding if schools agree to freeze tuition, protect conservative speech, apply strict definitions of gender, limit international students and other Trump priorities.
Rule of law: Days after Trump publicly pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi to charge his political enemies, the Justice Department indicted former FBI director James Comey. Other Trump foes, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), are under investigation.
Civil society: FBI director Kash Patel severed ties with the Anti-Defamation League on Thursday, accusing the Jewish civil rights group of "functioning like a terrorist organization" after MAGA activists discovered that Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA was listed in its now-removed "Glossary of Extremism and Hate." Trump also has urged the Justice Department to investigate Democratic megadonor George Soros' Open Society Foundations as part of a crackdown on liberal groups following Kirk's assassination.
8:24 am:
"I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”Vought, a powerful figure in the administration, is a conservative ideologue who contributed to the rightwing “Project 2025” manifesto for Republican control of the White House, which Trump distanced himself from during last year’s election campaign but is now embracing.
"That's out there. I haven't read it. I don't want to read it, purposely. I'm not going to read it."
-Debate with Kamala Harris
