Within hours of hearing that the United States had successfully brokered a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Republicans were giving President-elect Donald Trump full credit for it.
“I think that’s a rhetorical question,” Sen. Jim Risch, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters who asked if Trump’s threats prompted the deal. Risch went on to compare Trump to a historically inaccurate retelling of Ronald Reagan during the Iran hostage crisis. “Anybody who would look at this, who has common sense, knows that he did what Ronald Reagan did at the time that he took office with hostages being held in Iran.”
Days before Trump’s inauguration, the Republican ranks were clearly itching to give their leader an early win.