Politico: Trump Concerned That Israel's Attack Could Forever Ruin Gaza Deal Negotiations

Translation by SadaNews - The American website "Politico" reported that President Donald Trump and his close aides are concerned that the unprecedented Israeli attack on Doha may have thwarted negotiations for a Gaza deal, possibly forever.

The site quoted a person close to Trump's national security team and another American source familiar with the details, stating that the administration's frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified since Tuesday's attack, to the point where Trump and his aides have started to wonder if Netanyahu is trying to sabotage the negotiations. SadaNews also translated this.

The source close to Trump's team said, "It seems that every time progress is made, Netanyahu orders a strike on something... for this reason, the President and his aides feel extremely frustrated with him."

At the same time, the sources reported that the White House is working to reassure the Qataris, who described the Israeli attack as "barbaric."

Trump himself expressed hope tonight that the Israeli attack in Qatar would not affect senior Hamas leaders regarding the agreement on hostage release.

When journalists outside the White House asked the President whether the attack would affect the agreement, he replied: "I hope it does not affect it at all... We want the hostages released, and we want that to happen soon."

Politico reported that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani will meet Trump in Washington today to discuss the Israeli attack on Doha and the status of negotiations with Hamas. Al Thani will also meet Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, according to SadaNews's translation.

A source close to Trump's national security team stated that Secretary of State Rubio spoke with the Qatari Prime Minister in recent days, focusing mainly on prioritizing a plan to expand the security cooperation agreement between Qatar and the United States. Rubio is expected to visit Israel next week, although it is still unclear if he will also visit Qatar.

In the White House's first statement on the matter following Tuesday's attack, White House spokesperson Caroline Levitt clarified that Trump is frustrated with Israel's decision to attack Qatar, a U.S. ally that hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East, which Trump visited last May. The administration also confirmed that it learned about the attack from the U.S. military and that Israel did not consult with Washington prior to the attack and made little effort to inform it beforehand.

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump criticized Netanyahu's decision to attack and expressed his anger after learning of it from the U.S. military and not directly from Netanyahu.

For his part, Netanyahu assured Trump that he had a short time frame for the attack and decided to take advantage of it, while Trump expressed his frustration with the decision to attack Qatar, a U.S. ally and mediator in negotiations with Hamas, describing the decision as "unwise."

Sources in Trump's administration indicated that about 24 hours later, the two had a repeated conversation that was described as "friendly," and Trump asked Netanyahu if the attack had proven effective, to which Netanyahu replied that he did not know.