Trump and Rubio Reject ‘Two-State Solution’ Amid UN Push

President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are pushing back hard against international calls for a “two-state solution,” calling the latest United Nations conference on the issue a “slap in the face to the victims of October 7.”

The UN is currently hosting a conference in New York City, backed by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at advancing the creation of a Palestinian state. This comes less than two years after Hamas terrorists launched their brutal October 7, 2023, massacre of over 1,200 Israelis, slaughtering civilians and taking hundreds of hostages.

French President Emmanuel Macron recently pledged that France would officially recognize a Palestinian state in September, a move welcomed by Hamas.

“This week, the UN will serve as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the two-state solution in New York City,” the State Department said in a statement. “This is a publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace.”

The statement made clear that both Trump and Rubio view the two-state push as undermining U.S. efforts to free hostages and secure a lasting peace. “As Secretary Rubio has made clear, this effort is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7 and a reward for terrorism. The United States will not participate in this insult but will continue to lead real-world efforts to end the fighting and deliver a permanent peace.”

U.S. and Israeli officials argue that any recognition of Palestinian statehood, particularly after October 7, legitimizes Hamas and its terror tactics. Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman bluntly stated, “A Palestinian state is an existential threat to the State of Israel. A two-state solution is a dead letter; Israel has no margin of error, and the Palestinian leadership has proven unreliable as a peace partner.”

Mike Huckabee, the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, highlighted the geopolitical absurdity of the proposal “Muslim countries have 644 times the amount of land that are controlled by Israel. So maybe, if there is such a desire for the Palestinian state, there would be someone who would say, we’d like to host it.”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich echoed those sentiments, blasting the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

Somebody ought to have the courage to tell the truth: These people are terrorists. They teach terrorism in their schools. They have textbooks that say, ‘If there are 13 Jews and nine Jews are killed, how many Jews are left? It’s fundamentally time for somebody to have the guts to stand up and say, ‘Enough lying about the Middle East.’”

For Trump, Rubio, and their allies, any discussion of a two-state solution in the wake of the October 7 atrocities is not just naive but dangerous. Recognizing a Palestinian state while Hamas still holds hostages and continues attacks on Israeli civilians would embolden terrorists and destabilize the entire region.

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