Trump to speak with Palestinian president on Friday

President Trump will speak for the first time with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by phone on Friday.

The talk could be a chilly one, as Trump has emphatically stated his strong support for Israel and has not clarified a position on resolving the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The U.S. has long advocated for a two-state solution to the dispute, but in a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, Trump broke from that stance by saying that he would accept either one state or two states.

{mosads}“I’m looking at two-state and one-state [solutions], and I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one,” he said at the time.

That position has caused concern for Abbas and the Palestinians, who fear that Trump’s presidency might not be as friendly to the Palestinian cause as previous administrations. Abbas has often met with U.S. presidents and officials over the past decade.

But the Trump administration signaled last week that it could begin to take a more typical U.S. approach to Israel and the Palestinians, warning Israel not to seize parts of the occupied West Bank after earlier slamming a United Nations vote condemning controversial settlements there.