Trump’s Middle East peace agreement garners rare praise from Hillary Clinton, Democrats

The Trump administration’s efforts to successfully secure a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas have garnered praise from some prominent Democrats, including failed 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, formerly secretary of state under President Barack Obama, was cautiously optimistic when speaking about the peace deal’s prospects Friday afternoon during a CBS News special presentation. The apparent acceptance of the deal by Israel and Hamas was announced two days earlier, marking the beginning of the “first phase” of the 20-point plan to end the two-year war.

“I really commend President Trump and his administration, as well as Arab leaders in the region for making the commitment to the 20-point plan and seeing a path forward for what’s often called the day after,” Clinton said to CBS News’s Norah O’Donnell. “It’s going to take a lot of work. It’s going to take a lot of coordination.”

She added that U.S. negotiators “took advantage of an opening that was available and were able to be successful.”

The deal requires Hamas to return all remaining hostages from the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, and that Israel initiate the withdraw of its military from parts of the Gaza strip.

“Let’s now support this process and bring it together, not just in a nonpartisan way in our own country, but literally internationally as a great global commitment to try to bring peace, security, stability and a better future to the Middle East,” Clinton said. 

Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has been one of his party’s most adamant defenders of Israel’s military actions against Hamas, praised the president’s efforts for peace in a Wednesday X post.

I congratulate @POTUS on this historic peace plan that releases all the hostages.

Now, enduring peace in the region is possible.

Our parties are different but we have a shared ironclad commitment to Israel and its people. pic.twitter.com/iGb1PE93VH

— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) October 8, 2025

“I congratulate @POTUS on this historic peace plan that releases all the hostages,” Fetterman wrote. “Now, enduring peace in the region is possible. Our parties are different but we have a shared ironclad commitment to Israel and its people.”

Rahm Emanuel, formerly a Chicago mayor and Obama’s White House chief of staff, was quick to hand all the credit for the peace deal to President Trump.

“Trump deserves credit,” Mr. Emanuel told The New York Times. “If you want to get heard on your criticism, you give a compliment and then you’ll be heard on the criticism loud and clear. If all you are is a critic, it’s harder to be heard.”

Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also said Trump “obviously” should get credit for securing the deal to end the Israel Hamas war.

“The work that his administration has done here has been really important,” he told the outlet. “There’s a lot that still needs to be worked out, but we’re moving in the right direction.”

Still, after the Middle East deal was announced, numerous Democrats acknowledged and praised the push for peace while omitting references to Trump entirely.

Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic New York City mayoral nominee who made waves with his statement on the two-year anniversary of Oct. 7, said Friday on CNN, “I think the praise comes when [peace] is delivered.”

“What I’m saying is that I want it to last. And I think that the praise comes when it is delivered. And there’s a lot of news about it. The images are incredible of seeing these children celebrating, and I want to make sure that it is something lasting,” Mamdani said. “But I do think this is what people have been hoping for. It’s just that there have been so many false starts along the way, and we have to deliver this.”

Hillary Clinton did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

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