Claim:
In a phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump told the Israeli prime minister to stop a Gaza ceasefire deal because it would help Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign.
Rating:
Unproven ( About this rating? )
On Aug. 20, 2024, a PBS Newshour clip — in which journalist Judy Woodruff suggested former U.S. President Donald Trump urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone not to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza as it would help the presidential campaign of his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris — spread across social media.
The clip was shared numerous times on X , with some adding this was a violation of the Logan Act, referring to a 1799 U.S. law prohibiting ordinary citizens from negotiating with foreign powers.
Woodruff was responding to a question about how U.S. President Joe Biden could best help Harris win the 2024 elections. The moment in which Woodruff made these claims occurred at the 3:00:47 mark on the full PBS News broadcast, which can be found here :
I would venture to say without hearing this directly from anybody that one thing that the Harris campaign would love is if President Biden would bring home a ceasefire in the Middle East right now between Gaza and Israel, and we know that Secretary of State Blinken is over there right now working with Netanyahu.
The reporting is that former President Trump is on the phone with the Prime Minister of Israel urging him not to cut a deal right now because [that] would help the Harris campaign, so I don't know where that, I don't know, who knows whether that will come about or not.
But I have to think that the Harris campaign would like for President Biden to do what presidents do, which is work on that one, and maybe there's some other domestic issues that, you know, they'd like to see come home.
Woodruff initially did not specify which "reporting" she was referring to . Soon after her comments, American Muckrakers, a liberal political action committee (PAC) said it filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, requesting the agency look into Trump's alleged violations of the Logan Act through, "negotiating, and/or interfering, with the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding relations between the United States, Israel, and other parties."
Their statement referenced Woodruff's comments and a Reuters story about an Axios report that said Trump and Netanyahu spoke to each other over the phone on Aug. 14, 2024, and discussed the Israeli hostages and Gaza ceasefire deal. Two unnamed sources reportedly told Axios that Trump may have urged Netanyahu to take a deal, but could not confirm if this was true.
In statements to Snopes, Trump's office denied that such a phone call even took place, while Netanyahu's team said the story was not true. Woodruff also corrected herself in the aftermath, and said her comments were a "mistake."
There was also no independent verification about the topics discussed on the purported phone call, as reported by Axios, who added an editor's note to their article, which read: "This story has been updated to reflect that Netanyahu's office denied a phone call took place on Wednesday between the Israeli prime minister and former President Trump."
Though Trump and Netanyahu denied the claim, and Woodruff issued a correction, Axios still cited two unnamed sources who said the call took place. Given Snopes was unable to track down these unknown sources to verify the claim, we have rated this claim "Unproven."
"PBS is making up fake stories. The only thing President Trump has told the Prime Minister previously is 'to get the war over with.' Any assertion otherwise is fake news," a spokesperson for Trump told us.
In a post on X on Aug. 21, 2024, Woodruff apologized for making the comments:
I want to clarify my remarks on the PBS News special on Monday night about the ongoing cease fire talks in the Middle East. As I said, this was not based on my original reporting; I was referring to reports I had read, in Axios and Reuters, about former President Trump having spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister. In the live TV moment, I repeated the story because I hadn't seen later reporting that both sides denied it. This was a mistake and I apologize for it.
The Jerusalem Post, an Israeli news outlet, stated in an Aug. 21, 2024, article that Netanyahu's office categorically denied Woodruff's claim, calling it a "complete lie." We also reached out to Netanyahu's office and they told us the story was "not true."
Trump did admit to talking to Netanyahu about the ceasefire in July 2024, when the Israeli prime minister was visiting the United States. Netanyahu visited Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. Trump told reporters in mid-August that he encouraged Netanyahu to end Israel's war in Gaza but also criticized demands for a ceasefire.
"He knows what he's doing, I did encourage him to get this over with," Trump said to reporters. "It has to get over with fast. [...] Get your victory and get it over with. It has to stop, the killing has to stop."
At a separate event that same day, Trump said : "From the start, Harris has worked to tie Israel's hand behind its back, demanding an immediate ceasefire, always demanding ceasefire." He added this "would only give Hamas time to regroup and launch a new October 7 style attack."
Trump also said: "I will give Israel the support that it needs to win, but I do want them to win fast."
Biden said in mid-August 2024 that a ceasefire deal was in sight and warned all parties not to undermine negotiations. The current ceasefire deal is structured in three phases and would eventually include the full withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, though Israeli officials are calling for a better solution to control the Egypt-Gaza border.
Israel's attacks on Gaza have killed at least 40,000 peopl e, Qatari media network Al Jazeera reported on Aug. 15, 2024. According to the Israeli military, more than a 100 Israeli hostages are still in Gaza, but only 73 are believed to be alive.
Woodruff based her statement on an Axios story, covered by Reuters, that was later rejected by both Trump and Netanyahu as false. However, the Axios report maintained that such a call did take place, citing two sources, though the news organization did not confirm what was discussed between the two men. As such, until we have independent verification of the content of the alleged call, we have rated this claim as "Unproven."
Sources:
"18 U.S. Code § 953 - Private Correspondence with Foreign Governments." LII / Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/953 . Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.
"2024 Democratic National Convention | DNC Night 1 | PBS News Special Coverage." PBS. www.pbs.org, https://www.pbs.org/video/2024-democratic-national-convention-rnc-night-1-pbs-news-special-coverage-jxn5ef/ . Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
"Biden Says Gaza Ceasefire in Sight, Warns against Efforts to Undermine Deal." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/17/biden-says-gaza-ceasefire-in-sight-warns-against-efforts-to-undermine-deal . Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Conte, Michael and Jennifer Hansler, Alex Marquardt. "Blinken Says Israel Has Agreed to Gaza Withdrawal Terms in "bridging Proposal,' despite Reported Comments from Netanyahu | CNN Politics." CNN, 20 Aug. 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/20/politics/blinken-qatar-cease-fire-trip/index.html. " target="blank">https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/20/politics/blinken-qatar-cease-fire-trip/index.html.">https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/20/politics/blinken-qatar-cease-fire-trip/index.html. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Mohamed, Edna. "What We Know about the Remaining Israeli Captives Being Held in Gaza." Al Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/21/what-we-know-about-the-remaining-israeli-captives-being-held-in-gaza . Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
"PMO Rejects Claim That Trump Urged Netanyahu to Reject Hostage Deal." The Jerusalem Post | JPost.Com, 21 Aug. 2024, https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-815675. " target="blank">https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-815675.">https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-815675. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
Ravid, Barak. "Netanyahu's Office Denies Call with Trump about the Gaza Hostage-Ceasefire Deal." Axios, 15 Aug. 2024, https://www.axios.com/2024/08/15/trump-netanyahu-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-call. " target="blank">https://www.axios.com/2024/08/15/trump-netanyahu-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-call.">https://www.axios.com/2024/08/15/trump-netanyahu-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-call. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
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Taylor, Jordan. "What President Trump Doesn't Understand about the Logan Act." The Washington Post, 15 May 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/05/15/what-president-trump-doesnt-understand-about-logan-act/. " target="blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/05/15/what-president-trump-doesnt-understand-about-logan-act/.">https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/05/15/what-president-trump-doesnt-understand-about-logan-act/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
"Trump, Netanyahu Speak about Gaza Hostage-Ceasefire Deal, Axios Reports." Reuters, 15 Aug. 2024. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-netanyahu-speak-about-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-axios-reports-2024-08-15/. " target="blank">https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-netanyahu-speak-about-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-axios-reports-2024-08-15/.">https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-netanyahu-speak-about-gaza-hostage-ceasefire-deal-axios-reports-2024-08-15/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.
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