"Türkiye has been great," Trump told reporters on his plane bound for the Middle East. "President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan has been great. He's been very helpful because he's so well respected."
He added: "He (President Erdogan) has a very strong state and army, and he helped a lot" in ending the two-year Israeli war on Gaza.
In response to a press note that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had stopped short of saying the war was over, Trump responded firmly: "The war is over." He repeated: "The war is over, do you get that?"
The US president indicated that he believes the ceasefire will hold, saying, "I think people are fed up."
Before departing for Israel, where he will address the Knesset, and Egypt, where he will participate in the Sharm el-Sheikh Peace Summit, Trump stated that his trip to the Middle East would be "very special."
Trump is accompanied on his trip by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and CIA Director John Ratcliffe, according to the White House.
With American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 8, 2023, leaving 67,806 martyrs and 170,066 wounded, most of them children and women, and causing a famine that claimed the lives of 463 Palestinians, including 157 children.
On Thursday, Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement on the first phase of his ceasefire and prisoner exchange plan, following indirect negotiations between the two sides in Sharm el-Sheikh, with the participation of Turkey, Egypt, and Qatar, and under US supervision.
The first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel went into effect at 12:00 noon on Friday, Jerusalem time (09:00 GMT), after the Israeli government approved the agreement at dawn.
