PALM BEACH, Florida – President Donald Trump delivered sharp warnings to both Iran and Hamas on Monday, threatening fresh military strikes against Tehran and promising Hamas would face “hell to pay” if the militant group fails to disarm in Gaza, following high-stakes talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking at a joint news conference at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump vowed to “eradicate” any Iranian attempts to rebuild its nuclear program or ballistic missile capabilities following earlier U.S. and Israeli strikes this year.
“If they don’t disarm as they agreed to do, then there will be hell to pay for them,” Trump said of Hamas, emphasising the group must surrender weapons “in a fairly short period of time.”
The stern warnings came as Trump and Netanyahu presented a united front amid reports of growing tensions over the implementation of Gaza’s fragile ceasefire agreement.
Iran responds with counter-threats
Tehran quickly fired back at Trump’s latest threats. Ali Shamkhani, a top political adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned Monday that any aggression would trigger an “immediate harsh response.”
“Iran’s missile capability and defense are not containable or permission-based. Any aggression will face an immediate harsh response beyond its planners’ imagination,” Shamkhani wrote on social media platform X.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, also rejected disarmament demands, stating in a video message: “Our people are defending themselves and will not give up their weapons as long as the occupation remains.”
Trump receives unprecedented honour
In a diplomatic coup for the Israeli leader, Netanyahu announced that Israel would award Trump its highest civilian honour — marking the first time the distinction has been granted to a non-Israeli citizen.
Netanyahu characterised their fifth meeting since Trump’s return to power as “very productive,” appearing to successfully redirect the president’s attention toward Israeli concerns about Iranian military rebuilding efforts.
Trump acknowledged that Iran “may be behaving badly,” citing intelligence suggesting Tehran is establishing new nuclear sites to replace those destroyed in earlier strikes while simultaneously restoring its missile arsenal.
“I hope they’re not trying to build up again because if they are, we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup,” the president warned, adding that any U.S. response “may be more powerful than the last time.”
Gaza ceasefire implementation tensions
Despite downplaying reported disagreements with Netanyahu, Trump faces internal White House concerns that the Israeli premier may be deliberately slowing implementation of the Gaza truce’s second phase.
The next stage would install a Palestinian technocratic government and deploy an international stabilization force – key components of Trump’s broader Middle East peace strategy.
“I have very little difference with the Israeli premier and am not concerned about anything that Israel’s doing,” Trump insisted, though he provided few concrete details about reconstruction timelines for the devastated Palestinian territory.
Regional diplomacy continues
The Netanyahu meeting caps an intensive diplomatic weekend at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump also hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for discussions on ending Russia’s invasion.
Trump expressed hope that Netanyahu could establish working relations with Syria’s new president, a former Islamist rebel commander who overthrew longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad last year, despite ongoing Israeli strikes along the Syrian border.
The Gaza ceasefire, implemented in October, represents one of Trump’s signature foreign policy achievements during his first year back in office. According to reports from Axios, the administration aims to announce decisions on an interim government and international peacekeeping force as early as January.
However, Hamas’s continued refusal to disarm threatens to derail the fragile peace process, potentially forcing Trump to make good on his latest threats in the volatile region.
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