Trump says ‘good chance' of hostage deal with Hamas ‘during the week'
MORRISTOWN : US President Donald Trump said on Sunday there was a 'good chance' of a hostage deal with Hamas 'during the week,' ahead of his upcoming meeting with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu.
'I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas… during the coming week,' Trump told reporters amid mounting pressure on the Israeli prime minister to agree to a ceasefire and end the war in Gaza after almost two years.
Netanyahu said Sunday he hoped his talks in Washington could 'help advance' a Gaza ceasefire deal.
Trump and Netanyahu are scheduled to meet at the White House on Monday – the Israeli prime minister's third visit since Trump returned to power in January.
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas were underway in Qatar Sunday.
'We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out,' Trump added.
He said the US was 'working on a lot of things' with Israel, including 'probably a permanent deal with Iran.'
Trump also repeated claims that US strikes 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear facilities during the 12-day Iran-Israel conflict.
Since the start of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, mediators have brokered pauses in fighting during which hostages were freed in exchange for Israel-held Palestinian prisoners.
Of the 251 hostages taken by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's military campaign, lack of food and dire humanitarian conditions for more than 2 million people in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
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The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Trump tariffs leave costly China supply question unanswered; Indonesia among countries deeply affected
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South-East Asian nations are highly reliant on Chinese components and raw materials, and US firms that source from the region would bear the extra tariff damage. That's left companies, investors and economists facing several unanswered questions about Trump's tariffs that appear aimed at squeezing out Chinese content, according to Deborah Elms, head of trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. "Is that raw materials? All raw materials? Above a certain percentage?' she said. "How about parts? What about labor or services? What about investment?' In an agreement with Indonesia last week, the White House said the two countries would negotiate "rules of origin' to ensure a third country wouldn't benefit. The deal with Vietnam earlier this month outlined a higher 40% tariff rate for transshipped goods. And Thai officials, who have yet to secure a deal, detailed that they likely need to boost local content in exports to the US. Missing Details The Trump administration isn't providing much clarity on the matter right now. US officials are still working out details with trading partners and looking at value-based local content requirements, to ensure exports are more than just assembled imported parts, according to a person familiar with the matter, who didn't want to be identified discussing private talks. A senior Trump administration official also said this week that details on the approach to transshipment are expected to be released before Aug. 1, the deadline for when higher US tariffs kick in. Some factories are already adjusting their supply chains to comply with rules that will require more locally-made components in production. Frank Deng, an executive at a Shanghai-based furniture exporter with operations in Vietnam - and which gets about 80% of business from the US - said in an interview his firm is making adjustments as authorities appear to be more strictly enforcing country-of-origin rules. Vietnam has always had specific local content requirements for manufacturers, Deng added, including that a maximum of 30% of the volume of raw materials originates from China, and the value after production in Vietnam must be 40% higher than the imported raw materials. "We've been struggling to meet all the standards so that we can still stay in the game,' Deng said. "But I guess that's the only way to survive now.' For most of Southeast Asia, reducing the amount of Chinese-made components in manufacturing will require a complete overhaul of their supply chains. Estimates from Eurasia Group show that Chinese components make up about 60% to 70% of exports from Southeast Asia - primarily industrial inputs that go into manufacturing assembly. About 15% of the region's exports now head to the US, up about four percentage points from 2018. Local Content The US has become increasingly vigilant about China's ability to bypass US trade tariffs and other restrictions through third countries since Trump's first trade war in 2017. Thailand signaled its frustration over the lack of clarity for how much local content is needed in goods exported to the US to avert transshipment rates, but noted it will likely be much higher than a traditional measure of 40%. "From what we've heard, the required percentage could be significantly higher, perhaps 60%, 70%, or even 80%,' Deputy Prime Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said July 14. "Emerging countries or new production bases are clearly at a disadvantage,' he said, as their manufacturing capabilities are still at an early stage and must rely on other countries for raw goods. Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia have all taken steps this year to address Trump's concerns, increasing scrutiny of trade that passes through their ports including new rule-of-origin policies that centralize processing and imposing harsh penalties on transshippers. Developing nations may still struggle to enforce Trump's rules or comply with the rules if it means going up against China, their largest trading partner and geopolitical partner. "The reality is it's not enforceable at all,' said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group. "Chinese companies have all kinds of ways to get around it and those other countries have no incentive to enforce those measures, or capacity to collect the data and determine local content.' -- Reports from Patpicha Tanakasempipat, Skylar Woodhouse and Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen. -- ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
US drops sanctions on Myanmar junta allies after Trump praise
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The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
Trump struggles to deflect Epstein fallout amid GOP pressure
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Unlike political crises that dogged Trump's first term, including two impeachments and a probe into alleged campaign collusion with Russia, the people propelling the push for more transparency on Epstein have largely been his supporters, not his political foes. Trump has fed his base with conspiracy theories for years, including the false 'birther' claim that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Trump's advisers fanned conspiracies about Epstein, too, only to declare them moot upon entering office. That has not gone over well with the president's right-leaning base, which has long believed the government was covering up Epstein's ties to the rich and powerful. 'Donald Trump's been running a Ponzi scheme based on propaganda for the better part of a decade and it's finally catching up to him,' said Geoff Duncan, a Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia and Trump critic. 'The far right element is just dug in. They're hell bent on getting this information out.' The White House has dismissed reporting about Trump's ties to Epstein as 'fake news,' though it has acknowledged his name appears in documents related to the Epstein case. Trump and Epstein were friends for years before falling out. 'The only people who can't seem to shake this story from their one-track minds are the media and Democrats,' said White House spokesman Harrison Fields. Before leaving for a trip to Scotland on Friday, the president again urged people to turn their attention elsewhere. 'People should really focus on how well the country is doing,' Trump told reporters, lamenting that scrutiny was not being given to others in Epstein's orbit. 'They don't talk about them, they talk about me. I have nothing to do with the guy.' THE ART OF DISTRACTION Trump in recent weeks has employed a typical diversion playbook. He chastised a reporter for asking about Epstein in the White House Cabinet Room. He claimed in the Oval Office that he was not paying close attention to the issue. And, with help from Tulsi Gabbard, his director of national intelligence, he explosively accused Obama of treason for how he treated intelligence in 2016 about Russian interference in the U.S. election. On Thursday Trump took his distraction tour to the Federal Reserve, where he tussled with Chair Jerome Powell about construction costs and pressed for lower interest rates. That, said Republican strategist Brad Todd, was more effective than focusing on Obama in 2016, which voters had already litigated by putting Trump back in office. 'The Tulsi Gabbard look backward, I think, is not the way for them to pivot,' Todd said, noting that Trump's trip to the Fed highlighted the issue of economic affordability and taking on a Washington institution. 'If I was him I'd go to the Fed every day until rates are cut.' Democrats have seized on Trump's efforts to move on, sensing a political weakness for the president and divisions in the Republican Party that they can exploit while their own political stock is low in the wake of last year's drubbing at the polls. A Reuters/Ipsos poll this month showed most Americans think Trump's administration is hiding information about Epstein, creating an opportunity for Democrats to press. Trump's supporters and many Democrats are eager to see a release of government files related to Epstein and his case, which the Justice Department initially promised to deliver. 'Yesterday was another example of the Trump folks trying to throw as much stuff against the wall to avoid the Epstein files,' Mark Warner, a Democratic U.S. senator from Virginia, said in a post on X on Thursday about Gabbard's accusations against Obama. Trump allies see the administration's efforts to change topic as a normal part of an all-out-there strategy. 'They are always going at 100 miles an hour. Every department, every cabinet secretary, everybody is out there at full speed blanketing the area with news,' Republican strategist Maguire said. Trump has weathered tougher periods before, and his conservative base, despite its frustration over the files, is largely pleased with Trump's work on immigration and the economy. In a July Reuters/Ipsos poll, 56% of Republican respondents favored the administration's immigration workplace raids, while 24% were opposed and 20% unsure. Pollster Frank Luntz noted that Trump had faced felony convictions and other criminal charges but still won re-election last year. 'We've been in this very same situation several times before and he has escaped every time,' Luntz said. - Reuters
