Trump has sent senior officials to Israel in recent days to shore up the fragile Gaza ceasefire he brokered
A member of the Israeli forces stands guard as Israeli forces block access of Palestinians and foreign activists to olive trees during the olive harvest, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 23, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS
President Donald Trump said Israel would lose crucial U.S. support if it annexed the occupied West Bank, in an interview with Time magazine published Thursday.
Trump’s comments, which Time reported were made by telephone on October 15, came as Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned against annexation.
“It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen because I gave my word to the Arab countries. And you can’t do that now. We had great Arab support,” Trump said when asked what the consequences would be for Israel if he did so.
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“Israel would lose all US support if this happened.”
Trump also told Time that he believes Saudi Arabia will rejoin the Abraham Accords, which normalizes relations between Israel and Arab states, by the end of the year.
“Yes, I do. I do,” he replied when asked if he thought Riyadh would join the deadline.
“You see, they had a problem. They had a problem in Gaza and a problem with Iran. Now they don’t have those two problems,” he said, referring to Israel’s war in Gaza and Iran’s nuclear program, targeted by U.S. airstrikes earlier this year.
Trump then said he would “make a decision” on whether Israel should release high-profile Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti as part of peace efforts.
Barghouti – from Hamas’ rival Fatah movement – was among the Palestinian prisoners Hamas wanted released as part of the Gaza deal, according to state-linked Egyptian media.
Trump has sent a number of senior officials to Israel in recent days to shore up the fragile Gaza ceasefire he brokered earlier this month.
Read also: Israeli MPs give first green light to West Bank annexation
But as Vance wrapped up his three-day visit and Rubio arrived, Israeli lawmakers advanced two bills paving the way for annexation of the West Bank.
Vance said it was a “very stupid political move and I am personally insulted by it.”
As Rubio left Washington, he warned Israel against annexing the West Bank, saying the moves by Parliament and settler violence threatened the truce in Gaza.
Warning from JD Vance
US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday warned Israel against annexing the occupied West Bank, saying the move would jeopardize President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan and risk losing crucial US support.
Vance said Trump opposed any annexation and called the recent vote by Israeli lawmakers a “stupid political stunt” that undermines Washington’s efforts to stabilize the Middle East.
“The West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. President Trump’s policy is that the West Bank will not be annexed. That will always be our policy,” Vance told reporters at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport at the end of a two-day visit.
Fragile ceasefire, Rubio
Earlier, Rubio warned that annexation efforts could endanger Trump’s plan for Gaza, which resulted in a fragile ceasefire after two years of devastating war between Israel and Hamas.
“I think the president has made it clear that this is not something we can support at this time, and we think it potentially threatens the peace agreement,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday evening before leaving for Israel.
The secretary of state’s visit is the latest by a senior U.S. official seeking to maintain the truce, which has seen the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the return of the bodies of deceased hostages and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops.
