Trump envoy on Gaza war: “Everybody is at the end of their line on this. It’s got to end.”

A week after Gaza ceasefire talks collapsed, and amid growing signs of famine in Gaza, President Trump is struggling to bring an end to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, and to keep the United States from being further sucked into Middle East conflicts and to realize his vision for a more peaceful and stable Middle East, one of his top envoys said today.

“What’s on [Trump’s] mind about the Middle East is, how do you get to peace and prosperity through strength, without more boots on the ground, without military interventions, without risking America doing what's never worked before, which is being dragged accidentally into these situations into which regime change is then forced on one country or another,” US Ambassador to Turkey and Syria envoy Thomas Barrack told journalists at the State Department Thursday (July 31), following meetings with President Trump and other US officials today.

“So what's on his mind is, you know, Gaza, the Palestinian situation with Israel,” Barrack said. “He’s got Russia and Ukraine to deal with. He's dealing with tariffs today….

“And with all of the Middle East countries, his attitude is, give them a chance,” Barrack, a longtime Trump friend and businessman of Lebanese descent, said. “Figure out how you can effectively run towards the Abraham accords. How do you bring alignment in this region?”

No more US ‘boots on the ground’

Trump “made a commitment… that he was not interested in putting more boots on the ground anywhere,” Barrack continued. “So I don't see that as being an option for anybody who wants us to solve their problem. By the way, all these countries, my days are spent with each of those countries, saying, come in and solve it for us. Everybody wants us to solve it. Our message to them is we're here to usher and to coach, and you need to be responsible for yourselves.”

On Gaza: “This last piece of getting a deal done is horrible and confusing to everybody”

I asked Barrack about the war in Gaza, where Trump initially came into office proclaiming a ceasefire and hostage deal, and now faces a situation of growing starvation in Gaza and where it seems the war is nowhere near ending. Does he think the President’s getting dragged a little bit by Israel into supporting a continuation of the conflict?

Barrack said he would offer his personal opinion.

“The president….is