We first touched base with President Donald Trump's team about a month and a half ago. An exchange of emails with his small entourage made it clear how complex the task would be. Trump was then still in the thick of his primary battle against Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis. He was hopping between states in the US, getting off and on stages at rallies in big cities and small towns. He was deep in the campaign – where he feels most natural.
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The Republican nomination contest would soon end, as expected, with a trouncing victory for the former president. In the global crisis climate, Trump's messages are lifeblood to masses of voters.
Trump returned about a month ago as the presumptive nominee to his estate in Mar-a-Lago. Two weeks ago he hosted Fox News' Howard Kurtz in the library for an interview. But he is now carefully choosing his media appearances. The former president is in excellent momentum and in a position where public references to issues that are not at the heart of the American consensus – and Israel is one of them – could only hurt.
As Israeli journalists, it was important for us to touch on those very issues. The rationale behind producing the interview with Trump was clear: The State of Israel is in one of its most difficult hours, and an interview with the American president who was responsible for some of the biggest diplomatic moves Israel has known in recent decades – recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and moving the US embassy to Jerusalem – is a necessity.
Trump's perspective, as someone who could sit in the White House again in about nine months, had to reach Israeli ears at this point.
This consequential nature of the setting was not limited just to the military campaign against Hamas and Hezbollah, but also to Israel's relations with its great friend the US, which have been in a rather complex state for months: On the one hand, the administration has supported the war to defeat Hamas since October 8 – including an airlift of military aid and diplomatic moves at the UN.
On the other hand, the overly deep American involvement in the conduct of the war, which began with a permanent presence of administration officials in Israel's secret government cabinets, has become an ongoing violation of Israel's sovereignty and national independence.
Two are responsible for this: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who allowed the American access to Israel's existential holy of holies; and US President Joe Biden – whose political calculations, as the November elections approach, are becoming too dominant each day – and not in Israel's interest direction.
This is where Donald Trump comes in. The man who, according to him, enjoys "98 percent support among Israelis", and who knows how to speak to Americans at a down-to-earth and gut level. Even if his exact moves cannot be fully anticipated at any given moment, Trump now stands as the alternative – and currently, that's a big advantage. Especially in Israeli eyes.
An interview with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago brings great advantages. To the sounds of Queen's "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS" and ABBA's "THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL", he is in a domestic, relaxed state. This is not the Trump of the studios and rallies, but a gentler, more complex figure.
He was more patient than you would expect, but still fully in control of the situation, any situation. He is not briefed on details and has no need for them. The advisers may be under pressure, but not Trump. He is a leader of the big picture and in fact of the big pictures – Washington, Moscow, Tehran, Jerusalem – and also Gaza.
We were allotted 20 minutes for the interview, but in practice, it lasted half an hour. Even the assistant's hand signals could not sway him to wrap things up on time. Trump is a master of campaigning and knows how to plant his messages doggedly in every answer. So when a question is asked – there is a window of eight to ten seconds where you'll get a substantive and authentic answer, and after that, he'll navigate the response as he wishes. But that narrow window, and Trump's amazing authenticity – are enough to understand the message. He looks you in the eye reads his interlocutor, and knows how to react even to the slightest facial expression.
Trump sees the world in black and white, in good and bad, and Israel is completely on the good side for him. But he also fires off harsh truths at lightning speed and is not afraid to hold up a mirror to Israel so we understand our situation. He declares that he was the best president Israel ever had and believes he will be in the future too. He makes it clear that he will support us wholeheartedly, but also that this does not absolve us of responsibility.
Those feelings are evident throughout the entire interview – until the end. After a few more minutes of small talk and photos, he disappeared into the private area of the estate. The president's presence at Mar-a-Lago is natural for members of the private golf club, and even the Secret Service agents do not stand out in the surroundings as they do at the White House.
In the adjacent living room that serves as an upscale restaurant, they are preparing for the evening meal. High-ranking guests arrive at a steady pace. A semi-hurricane breeze accompanies us on the way out. A fitting backdrop: in Donald Trump's world, the atmosphere is warm and secure, but the outside is there is a storm.
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