The following is the transcript of an interview with Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East special envoy, that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Feb. 23, 2025.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Joining us now is President Trump’s Special Envoy, Steve Witkoff. He is in Miami Beach this morning. Good morning to you, sir.
SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST STEVE WITKOFF: Good morning, Margaret. Thanks for having me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I have a lot to get to with you. I want to start on the Mideast first. You have said you are headed there this week to work on a hostage deal. I know Prime Minister Netanyahu has changed his negotiating team. Will we get to phase two of this hostage deal and can we get that American citizen, Edan Alexander, out anytime soon?
STEVE WITKOFF: So, I- we- we will get to stage two- or phase two, and I’m very focused on that, and I think it’s going to happen. I’m going there probably Wednesday evening. I’ll spend five days there as soon as I arrive, making- going to various countries, including Qatar, Egypt, Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia. And as to Edan Alexander, he’s front and center for us. I know his parents. We talk all the time. He’s critical. It’s one of President Trump’s most important objectives is to get all Americans home. And we’re going to be successful in getting Edan home, I believe.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, in that second phase, talking about what comes next for Gaza becomes part of that. For that day after, do Hamas leaders need to leave Gaza? Are you discussing that? And if so, where would they go?
STEVE WITKOFF: So, Margaret, the- the May 27 protocol agreement signed last May 27 sets forth that the phase two negotiation is much about two things, a- a permanent ceasefire, a cessation of all violence. And, in addition to that, the fact that Hamas cannot be allowed to come back into the government. And I think the way you square that circle is that Hamas has to go. They’ve got to leave.–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Physically?
STEVE WITKOFF: And we’re going to- the negotiation will be around that- I would say physically, that’s correct.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Where would they go? Has any country offered to take them in?
STEVE WITKOFF: Well, I think- I think the devil is in the details, and we’ve had a lot of discussions around it. I’m not at liberty to have that discuss- that specific discussion today, but we’ve got some ideas, and that will be part of the negotiation.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve been quoted as saying that when you went to Gaza and you personally saw the devastation there, you couldn’t understand why anyone would say- stay. But it doesn’t mean you can’t have some sort of right to return, if that’s the policy that works for people. Does the Trump administration support Palestinians’ right to return?
STEVE WITKOFF: Well, Margaret, first of all, what I would say is this, President Trump is one of the most sensible human beings you’re ever going to meet. He is- he understands that it makes no sense to endorse old policy prescriptions that have not worked. And what has not worked in Gaza are all of these old policy prescriptions. So, he’s come up with a new notion. And the new notion is, let’s create a better opportunity for these, for people who have lived in Gaza to have a better life for themselves, better upside, better aspirations for what can happen for their children and so forth. The May 27 protocol talked about Gaza as if it was a five year reconstruction plan. We’ve been talking in the Trump administration about a 15 year horizon, perhaps even 20 years. And now, all of a sudden, the Wall Street Journal printed an article yesterday, agreeing with that math. There is a much- level setting the facts suggest that nobody can really live there in a safe environment for probably at least 15 years. So effectively, we need- effectively people have been under this misassumption. When you’re under a misassumption about facts, you’re not going to make decisions correctly. We’re making decisions based on a real set of facts. And so there’s a lot of work that has to be done there. There’s tons of demolition, there’s artillery shells all over the place that could explode at any moment. This is a much longer project, and people don’t belong living there right now.
MARGARET BRENNAN: But they could return?
STEVE WITKOFF: That’s- that’s, again, goes to the devil in the details. I’m not sure that anyone has a problem with people- with people returning. We’ve had these discussions around that. I just think the fundamental issue today is how we get phase two done and then develop a reconstruction plan for Gaza. And for that, you’ve got to have a real set of facts, and we’ve been operating prior to the Trump administration coming in under facts that are just not accurate.
MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to also ask you about Russia. You are a very trusted advisor to President Trump, and he sent you to speak face to face with Vladimir Putin. Fox reported you sat with Putin for three and a half hours. You said that you spent a lot of time talking, developing a friendship and a relationship with Putin, and that’s how you helped bring this U.S. Citizen Mark Fogel, home. Can you take us inside that room? Did you have a translator? Did you have a note taker? Were you talking in English? What happened?
STEVE WITKOFF: There was a translator. In fact, there were two translators. And I- to me, the assignment was trust building and speaking behalf- on behalf of my boss, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. And I had no expectation as to how long the meeting was going to last. I was intent on carrying a message from the President to President Putin. I had been advised that the President- that President Putin had something for me to transmit back to the President. And the meeting ended, I looked at my watch, and it was close to three and a half hours that we were in there and hopefully that that suggests that a lot of good things got accomplished. I think that President Trump believes- and I believe because he believes it, that trust building begins with good, proper communication. And we had really good- we just had a great discussion being President Putin, and now it will be up to President Putin and President Trump to work something out. And I think they’re going to be successful.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Did you have an intelligence officer or anyone else with you? That’s an extraordinary amount of face time with Putin.
STEVE WITKOFF: I had- it was just me.
MARGARET BRENNAN: It was just you. The head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund- I know you know him- Kirill Dmitriev, told Reuters that afterward they expect a number of American companies to return to Russia this year. Is he right to expect that? Did you discuss lifting U.S. sanctions off of Russia?
STEVE WITKOFF: We did not have that specific discussion at- at the meeting you’re referring to. But, I think that- that obviously there would be an expectation that if we get to a peace deal, that you would be able to have American companies come back and do business there. And I think that everybody would believe that that would be a positive good thing to happen.
MARGARET BRENNAN: After the end to the war and concessions were made by Russia?
STEVE WITKOFF: Well, that’s what everybody wants–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –Okay.
STEVE WITKOFF: What everybody wants- the beg- the beginning of that Margaret is- would be a- would be a temporary ceasefire. But, the long term goal would be an end to this- that we’ve had a- you know, close to a million and a half deaths. And so- you know, President Trump, the- his- his agenda, is to end this carnage. It just didn’t belong to- it didn’t need to happen, and it doesn’t need to continue- not, you know, another day. So we’re on it at his direction. And I think there is- you’re going to see some- some real positive developments in the near term future.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, thank you for joining us. We’ll be back in a moment with a lot more “Face the Nation.” Stay with us.
