US President Donald Trump criticised former President Joe Biden’s handling of the Middle East, saying he could not secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal sooner, Anadolu reports.

“Biden couldn’t get it done,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “It was only the imposition that I put on it as a deadline that got it done.

“The hostages are starting to come back. If I weren’t here, they wouldn’t be back ever … They would have all died.”

Trump blamed the Biden administration’s “weakness” for the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, saying “Oct. 7 should have never happened. Nobody should be dead. But through weakness, they allowed it to happen, and then it was a disaster … Six months ago, you would have had 11 more living hostages.”

Asked if he plans to visit the Middle East, he said: “We’re thinking about going to the Middle East. Not yet.”

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