Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Virginia Kruta.
President Donald Trump left for Israel on Sunday to celebrate the deal he'd brokered just days earlier between Israel and Hamas, the terrorist group responsible for the brutal massacre on October 7, 2023. In the days since the agreement was reached, the litmus test has been a simple one: who is willing to give Trump credit for the work he's done - and who isn't?
For those who don't spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television - and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week's worth of network and cable news media spin - The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
While there were some on both sides of the political aisle who were willing to acknowledge Trump's role in securing a deal to bring the hostages home and ultimately end the war entirely, others tried to qualify his success - or even omit him from the conversation.
Vice President JD Vance, of course, was firmly in Trump's corner as he made the rounds on the Sunday morning shows. On ABC's
"This Week," he spoke with anchor George Stephanopoulos about phase one of the deal and the return of the last remaining hostages held in Gaza.
Vance took a similar tone with
"Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan on CBS, telling her,
"The president is actually traveling to the Middle East, likely this evening, in order to meet them and greet them in person. It's a big day for their families, but I think more importantly, it's a big day for the entire world."
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty also spoke to Brennan and expressed confidence in Trump's deal.
"We are very hopeful that the first phase will be completed in all honesty," he said.
"We are in full contact with the Palestinians, with Hamas, because it's all about, of course, releasing the hostages and for Israel, releasing some of the Palestinian detainees."
Senator Chris Murphy, however, couldn't bring himself to directly credit Trump with the win - even when asked point blank by Brennan whether the deal marked something upon which he could agree with the president.
"I congratulate the negotiators on getting this done. There's no politics about this moment," he said.
"But you watch those devastating images of what Gaza looks like today, and it's both heartbreaking and infuriating that this deal has been on the table for over a year. So again, this will be a good week, but as you have reported, there are big issues to come. Israel is not fully pulling out of Gaza. There is no clear path forward on what the security and governance force is going to look like inside that country."
CNN anchor Dana Bash also asked her guests whether Trump deserved some credit for securing the deal. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) told her that Trump
"should get a lot of credit" for making it happen.
"I think he should get a lot of credit. I mean, this was his deal," Kelly replied.
"He worked this out. He sent [Middle East Envoy] Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner over to negotiate this. And so far, it's gone well. Hopefully, the hostages get released here - might not be within 24 hours - but certainly, I think, by Monday. And that's progress. And now we're going to have to see what happens next."
Former President Joe Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was also quick to agree that Trump had earned credit by securing the ceasefire. Bash recalled Kelly's interview and asked Sullivan whether he agreed that Trump should be lauded for getting the deal across the finish line.
"Of course he does," Sullivan said.
CNN guest Jamal Simmons attempted to split the baby, qualifying Trump's success:
"The problem that we see is, on one side is Donald Trump solving or doing a great job in bringing people together around the world around some of these peace issues, while at the same time dividing people at home."
Even former President Barack Obama took some heat for praising the deal without even acknowledging who had brought it about.
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