MSNBC panel lauds Trump over ‘remarkable’ Israel-Hamas peace deal

President Donald Trump‘s peace plan for the Middle East was praised by MSNBC panelists Jon Meacham, a presidential historian, and David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist, on Thursday. 

“As ever, it depends on how the chapter ends. But the beginning of this chapter is remarkable. And one of the things about honesty and citizenship and a sense of I would, I would say maturity about what people in a democracy should do is even if someone with whom you disagree about 99 things, does the 100 really well, you should say so, because that’s what intellectual honesty is. And so all credit to President Trump and his, as you say, unconventional team,” Meacham told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” 

Hamas agreed this week to a peace deal pushed by Trump to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages, two years after the terror group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Ignatius told the co-hosts that Trump was able to do what former President Joe Biden was not.

President Donald Trump speaks to top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, on Sept. 30, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

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“I can remember in the month or so after October 7, an Israeli senior official saying to me, ‘We are so disoriented and traumatized by this war, the United States is going to have to make decisions for us.’ Joe Biden could never do that, and Donald Trump was able to do it — did it at the decisive moment — when he said, essentially, this war must end and Israel cannot annex the West Bank, which many right-wing Israelis wanted,” he said. 

Ignatius said Trump’s team, including Steve Witkoff, United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, reached out to the Arabs and developed important relationships.

“What’s interesting about that, Joe and Mika, is that it took ideas from all over the Arab world — from the UAE, from Qatar, from Saudi Arabia, from Tony Blair in Britain — and pulled them all together into a single plan with the U.S. weight of support behind it. That’s how we got here. And in each case, it’s Trump deciding these people, endless combatants, cannot do it on their own. ‘I’m going to intervene forcefully.’ Tragically, that is something that Joe Biden, for all his desire for peace, wasn’t able to do,” he said. 

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a news conference in the State Dining Room of the White House on Sept. 29, 2025. (Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Trump took to Truth Social Wednesday to make the announcement: “I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!” 

Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he expects the hostages to be released Monday. He said Thursday he may travel to Israel next week.

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Trump said the “world came together” to secure the peace deal.

“The whole world came together, to be honest. So many countries that you wouldn’t have even thought of, they came together. The world has come together around this deal,” he said Wednesday.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall, Jennifer Griffin, Efrat Lachter, and Emma Bussey contributed to this report.