ABC host tells 'The View' Trump 'clearly had an effect' in securing cease-fire deal
ABC News host Martha Raddatz joined the co-hosts of "The View" on Thursday and said that President-elect Trump's team "clearly had an effect" on the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
"Well, there are certainly hostage families on the street in Tel Aviv who say it is Donald Trump who helped get this over the line, and they have been working hand in glove. You have to give the Biden administration props for everything they’ve done so far," Raddatz said when asked by co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin about the role Trump played.
"But you heard President-elect Trump say there would be hell to pay if the hostages were not released, if there was not a cease-fire agreement before he took office. And that seems to have resonated over there. Whether it really put Hamas over the line, we don’t know about that, but it did have some effect. And having those two administrations work together really did seem to make a difference. You heard President Biden say, 'Is that a joke you think? You think Donald Trump is completely responsible for this?' But they clearly had an effect of some sort," she added.
President Biden, who touted the cease-fire deal in a speech on Wednesday, also balked at a question posed by Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich about whether Trump deserves credit for the deal.
Biden touted the cease-fire deal during his farewell address on Wednesday.
"My fellow Americans, I'm speaking to you tonight from the Oval Office. Before I begin, let me speak to important news from earlier today. After eight months of nonstop negotiation, my administration — by my administration — a cease-fire and hostage deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas, the elements of which I laid out in great detail in May of this year," Biden said in his opening remarks.
Israel and Hamas reached a cease-fire agreement Wednesday that also ensured the release of hostages. A recent meeting between Trump's incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly played a pivotal role in the deal, sources told Fox News Digital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of reneging on the deal with new demands and has delayed a Cabinet vote on the agreement indefinitely.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that he expects the agreement between Israel and Hamas to go into effect on Sunday.
"I think this week was another reminder both of the power and the purpose of American leadership and American diplomacy. Over 15 months of devastating conflict between Israel and Hamas, we've worked to broker a deal that would bring hostages home, that would stop the fighting, that would surge humanitarian aid to people who so desperately need it. That would create the space to conclude a permanent cease-fire," Blinken said.
Fox News' Emma Colton and Greg Norman contributed to this report.