- Trump did an impromptu drop-by during a campaign briefing on 2024
- He vowed not to sit on his Iowa lead and play ‘prevent defense’
- He was asked about pressure on Israel to limit civilian casualties
Former President Donald Trump tore into President Biden Monday for being the ‘worst ally’ to Israel – as Biden comes under fire for his administration’s difficulty pressuring Israel to limit the impact of its war against Hamas on civilians in Gaza.
‘Biden has been the worst ally to Israel that anyone’s ever had, because he allowed Iran to become rich again,’ Trump said Monday.
He laced into Biden’s foreign policy generally during off-the-cuff comments at Trump National Golf Course in West Palm Beach, where his campaign team was briefing reporters about his effort to regain the White House.
He said ‘the worst president ever – ever – for Israel is Biden because he allowed Iran to get rich.’
‘And one thing I learned about Biden is whatever he says, do the opposite, because he’s the worst person I’ve ever seen on foreign policy,’ Trump said. He was asked about growing pressure on President Joe Biden over the war amid Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Former President Donald Trump tore into President Joe Biden on Israel when asked about pressure over Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza
Israel’s President Benjamin Netanyahu is also facing internal pressures after the Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the accidental killing of three Israeli hostages inside Gaza days ago.
Campaign officials limited the comments that reporters were able to put on the record, during a brief Q&A that commenced when Trump came in after playing a round at his Trump National Golf Course in West Palm Beach.
‘Just shot a 71 so I can’t be cognitively impaired,’ Trump joked.
He also commented on his former Rudy Giuliani’s fate, days after a Washington, DC jury awarded him $148 million for defaming
!['It's so sad': Trump commented on the jury award against his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/18/18/79097631-12878171-image-a-7_1702924953395.jpg)
‘It’s so sad’: Trump commented on the jury award against his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani
![Former President Trump tore into his predecessor, and vowed not to play 'prevent defense' in the primaries while sitting on a lead](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/18/19/79097855-12878171-image-a-16_1702927903831.jpg)
Former President Trump tore into his predecessor, and vowed not to play ‘prevent defense’ in the primaries while sitting on a lead
![He spoke while the administration is under pressure for Israel's war on Hamas](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/12/18/19/79097849-12878171-image-a-17_1702927911135.jpg)
He spoke while the administration is under pressure for Israel’s war on Hamas
‘I think it’s so sad, what’s happened to Rudy,’ Trump said in response to a question from DailyMail.com. ‘He’s a great patriot he’s the greatest mayor in the history of New York. I think it’s a very, very unfair situation.’
He didn’t say whether he would provide any financial assistance to help Giuliani with staggering legal bills.
Trump comments came after a weekend where he spoke at a New Hampshire and doubled down on prior comments that immigrants are ‘poisoning the blood of our country.’
At the event he also brought up approving comments from Hungary’s President Viktor Orban and quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In his Israel comments, Trump referenced the scrapped Iran nuclear deal, and said Tehran lacked the financial influence.
‘They were broke. They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for Hezbollah. They had no money for anything they wanted to survive.’
He said Biden ‘allowed Iran to get rich’ and said Hamas was ‘out of business.’
The New York Times reported on Sunday that Israel in 2018 obtained intelligence showing that Hamas had amassed a financial portfolio valued a half a billion dollars, but that U.S. and Israeli intelligence had failed to act decisively on the information.
Trump is also looking ahead to Iowa, with the caucuses less than a month away.
He said it looks like the campaign is ‘doing pretty well’ but ‘you never know, right?’
‘You know what it is to play a certain defense called prevent defense in the NFL? We won’t play prevent. … We don’t want to play prevent defense,’ he said – in reference to a conservative style of play that can sometimes lead to pulse-raising deep throws on the field during the final minutes of a game.
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