President Donald Trump has long had a keen sense of the power of imagery, and pictures of children starving in Gaza are motivating him to redouble U.S. humanitarian aid efforts there.
He was "disturbed" and "troubled" by the images, most of which he saw in news clips, a senior White House official told NBC News.
"We can save a lot of people," Trump said Monday during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. "I mean, some of those kids are — that's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake it. So we're going to be even more involved."
White House officials said Trump had previously approved $60 million for aid to Gaza but that it had gotten little public notice and that the promise of more food — and a better system to ensure that it gets to civilians — points to ongoing need.
"He has continued to see photos of starving children and wants to continue to help," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News. In 2017, pictures of victims of chemical weapons attacks prompted Trump to launch Tomahawk missiles over Syria.
Trump said Monday that the United States would work with international partners, including Britain and other European nations, to fund and set up food delivery centers in Gaza — aligning himself with countries that have been far more critical of Israel. A person familiar with Trump's thinking said that, in addition to reacting to images, he got "an earful" from Starmer and European Union leaders about the situation in Gaza.
And while it remains to be seen whether there will be any substantive shift in American policy toward Israel, Trump's focus on food aid comes when much of the world, including a rising share of the American public, disapproves of Israel.
In a rare public rebuke, Trump said Monday that he does not agree with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment that no one is starving in Gaza.
"Based on television, I would say not particularly," Trump said. "Because those children look very hungry.”
In doing so, he echoed the sentiments of some in his MAGA political base who have become more vocally critical of Israel over the course of a war that will reach its second anniversary in October. MAGA support for helping Palestinians grew more pronounced on social media over the weekend, adding heft from the political right to long-standing left-wing calls for aid.
"I can unequivocally say that what happened to innocent people in Israel on Oct 7th was horrific," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a close Trump ally, wrote Sunday on X. "Just as I can unequivocally say that what has been happening to innocent people and children in Gaza is horrific. This war and humanitarian crisis must end!"
Theo Von, a popular podcaster who backed Trump's presidential campaign in 2024, pleaded with Trump and leaders of both parties to "get aid into GAZA NOW?!"
"Children are starving to death!!" he wrote Sunday on X. "We are America. This isn't about politics. This is about humanity."
The proliferation of images of emaciated children prompted recent international outrage, said Basim El-Arra, executive director of the Muslim civil rights and advocacy group CAIR Action, leading the public to flood elected officials with phone calls and for influencers to weigh in.
“They’re hearing from their constituents everywhere. We’re talking about Republicans, Democrats, folks on the right, folks on the left. People are saying ‘enough is enough.’ Big influencers on all sides are coming out and calling out our elected officials for not stopping this. People don’t want to be complicit in this genocide,” El-Arra said.
“Some people thought that he’s going to stop this thing like he promised during the campaign. And then it was one promise after the other. But the reality on the ground is that the genocide continues, and they’re giving cover and sending more money and weapons to Israel,” he said. “We still believe he is the only one that can actually stop this. One phone call to Netanyahu saying: ‘Enough is enough. That’s it. Stop it now. Cease fire. Let in aid.’”
Extensive reports of famine and starvation have been emerging for months, including a prominent piece by The New York Times in late May, which included an image of a 21-pound 6-year-old.
Trump’s remarks came a day after former President Barack Obama issued a rare statement about a foreign policy issue in response to the latest New York Times coverage of Gazans dying of starvation.
Vice President JD Vance called on Israel and Arab states in the Gulf to ensure food is getting to Gaza as he talked to reporters in Canton, Ohio, on Monday.
“We want to make sure they get food,” Vance, who emphasized that he blames Hamas for the crisis, said in response to a question from NBC News during a visit to a steel factory.
“We’ve also got to make sure that Hamas gets the hell out of Gaza and lets the food come into that terrible, terrible situation — because I don’t know if you’ve all seen these images, you’ve got some really, really heartbreaking cases. You’ve got little kids who are clearly starving to death. Israel’s got to do more to let that aid in, and we’ve also got to wage war on Hamas so that those folks stop preventing food from coming into this territory.”
The New York Times reported Saturday that the Israeli military has no proof that Hamas has systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two Israelis involved in the matter who spoke to the news outlet.
Vance, who referred to Trump’s comments, added that he sees Israel's position as a tough one.
“They would, of course, love to have food come into Gaza to prevent this terrible starvation. They say, ‘Well, you’ve got to hold Hamas up to the same standard,’” Vance said. “Let’s be honest. Hamas is a terrorist organization. If we ever count on Hamas to get food into Gaza, you’re just going to have more starving kids.”
The fine points of Trump's plan have not yet been laid out publicly, but administration officials said Monday that he is committed to solving the starvation problem.
“President Trump wants to alleviate suffering for the people of Gaza because he has a humanitarian heart," White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. "He announced a new aid plan today to help Gazans obtain crucial access to food — details are forthcoming.”
