This is Frank Gaffney with the Secure Freedom Minute.

Donald Trump has practiced the “art of the deal” for decades.

The question is: Will his ambition to achieve a transformative Middle East peace agreement cause him to violate one of the most important principles of any constructive negotiation: You must be willing to walk away when one of the parties is acting in bad faith even before the deal is done.

That’s exactly what Hamas is doing. Presented with the President’s take-it-or-leave it ultimatum, Hamas accepted conditionally. 

President Trump pledged that Israel would have his support to finish the job in Gaza if Hamas didn’t fully accept the deal. Instead, the jihadists have pulled a bait-and-switch. 

If allowed to get away with it, they’ll only behave worse in a negotiating process that was not supposed to happen, but that’s now nonetheless underway in Egypt.

This is Frank Gaffney.