‘Not married to one solution’: Trump won’t criticise Albanese’s Palestine state call

Washington: The White House has declined to criticise Australia’s announcement that it will recognise a Palestinian state, saying in its first comments on the decision that President Donald Trump was “not married to any one solution” on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

While Trump has mocked the significance of France recognising Palestine, and insinuated on Truth Social that Canada could impact trade talks if it made the same move, he has stayed silent since Canberra’s announcement.

The White House also rebuffed numerous requests for comment ahead of Australia’s decision, pointing only to Trump’s public remarks about other countries.

But on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), when asked specifically about Australia’s move to recognise Palestine, a White House official told this masthead that while Trump was not going to recognise Palestine himself, he had an open mind on the issue.

“As the president stated, he would be rewarding Hamas if he recognises a Palestinian state, and he doesn’t think they should be rewarded. So he is not going to do that,” the official said.

“However, the president is not married to any one solution as it pertains to building a more peaceful region.”

The statement marks the first public comment from the White House since Australia broke with the US to recognise Palestine.

At the same time, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio continued to argue it was meaningless for other countries to recognise the territory as a sovereign state, and claimed governments were choosing to do so now due to domestic political considerations.

Asked by New York radio personality Sid Rosenberg about the move by Australia, Ireland and other countries, Rubio said: “It’s symbolic, and they’re doing it primarily for one reason, and that is their internal politics, their domestic politics.

“In the UK, in France, in many parts of Europe and Ireland, for a long time their domestic politics has turned anti-Israel or whatever it may be, and they’re getting a lot of domestic pressure to do something, but it’s largely meaningless.”

Rubio did not specifically mention Australia in his answer.

“The truth of the matter is that the future of that region is not going to be decided by some UN resolution. It’s not going to be decided by some press release by a prime minister or a president from some country,” Rubio said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Monday that Australia would recognise Palestinian statehood at next month’s United Nations General Assembly meeting.

The move came after weeks of deliberations that included a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a phone call with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, both last week.

Albanese said the decision was predicated on commitments from the Palestinian Authority that Hamas could play no role in a future Palestinian state, that it must recognise Israel’s right to exist, hold general elections and reform governance, education and international oversight.

The Israeli government lashed the decision, saying it was a reward for the terror group Hamas and that recognising Palestine was one of the fruits of the attack the group launched against Israel in October 2023.

Albanese on Tuesday accused Netanyahu of being in denial about the consequences of the conflict in Gaza, but vowed to continue relations despite the escalating disagreement.

The war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza since then has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

There are growing global concerns over Israel’s plan to intensify the war and take Gaza City – the territory’s biggest population centre – amid warnings about starvation, civilian casualties and lack of medical care.

with Reuters