Trump: Without Me, Israel Would Not Exist

US President Donald Trump affirmed that Israel "would not have existed" without his efforts, praising his relationship with outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and commenting cautiously on the mandate given to Gadi Eisenkot to form the new Israeli government.

In response to a question about Eisenkot's mandate, Trump said via CBS News: "Both are competing for it, and they are very similar in terms of their policies and visions," adding: "I think he said very nice things about me, mentioning that he has affection for Trump. But I don't know, I haven't followed the details of what is happening. In any case, the competition is definitely between him and Bibi Netanyahu, and we will see what happens," noting that "they have very similar visions, and both take strong positions consistent with my approach."

Trump continued: "Without me, Israel would not exist. Let me tell you, Israel would not have existed without Donald Trump; we intervened with those wonderful B-2 bombers more than a year ago, and we struck the three sites at that time."

When asked about the decision to assist Israel in carrying out strikes targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure, and whether he regrets it, Trump replied: "Yes, it could have been done. But we had people who wanted to go further. We eliminated the head of their nuclear arsenal."

He added: "I deal with these people, I deal with many individuals, and this is what I have done all my life: I make deals. And clearly, I make good deals, as I made a lot of money and became president."

When questioned about the existence of nuclear materials in Iran, he immediately replied: "They have nothing. Everything is buried under thousands of tons of rocks."

Election Loss

In his analysis of the reasons for the Republicans' loss in the midterm elections, Trump said in his first interview after the results appeared: "First and foremost, my name was not on the ballot. But I conducted intensive campaigns to support some candidates. And I believe that if my name had been on the ballot, the situation would have been completely different; you saw the magnitude of the popularity and love I enjoy."

He added that "the challenge was transferring the votes of these supporters to candidates who did not have their acceptance," pointing to other reasons, including "voters' opposition to war, their discomfort with rising gasoline prices, in addition to significant resentment towards Israel, which is surprising."

Republican party leaders, including Vice President JD Vance, partially blamed the war in Iran and the high cost of living, at a time when Trump faces increasing pressure regarding the future of his policies.