Fifth GOP presidential primary debate: on War & Peace

Donald Trump: I beat ISIS in literally three months; knocked them out

A: They have chaos at the border. They have chaos in the military. People are going woke. We have the greatest military in the world except for the top where they want to turn this beautiful thing we built. We beat ISIS, knocked them out. It was supposed to take four years. I did it in literally three months. It was supposed to take four or five years.

[Did Trump's 2017-2018 actions in Iraq knock out ISIS?] Fact Check by American Enterprise Institute, 9/11/23: "ISIS remains resilient and has sustained a low-level insurgency in Iraq while conducting targeted attacks in Syria, especially against prisons to release key operatives. It has particularly strengthened in central Syria. Iraqi counterterrorism pressure has suppressed, but not eliminated, the ISIS threat."

Nikki Haley: Support Israel to eliminate Hamas once and for all

DESANTIS: When Gov. Haley was at the U.N., she supported the idea of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. The problem with that is the Palestinian Arabs don't recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Under no circumstances as president am I going to pressure Israel to risk their security to do a so called two-state solution. She was wrong when she embraced that.

HALEY: When I was at the United Nations, I fought every day for Israel. I said a two-state solution wasn't something that was possible because Israel would always come to the table and the Palestinians wouldn't. But right now, we have to make sure that Israel has the support that it needs. There should be three things. Give Israel whatever it wants to get the job done. Two, eliminate Hamas once and for all. And three, do whatever it takes to bring the hostages home.

Nikki Haley: There wouldn't be Hamas without Iran

HALEY: When it comes to Iran, what we have to understand, there would be no Hamas without Iran. There would not be Houthis without Iran. There wouldn't be Hezbollah without Iran. And when you look at the strikes that are happening in Iraq and Syria, that is because of Iran. They're pulling the puppet strings. We've had over 130 strikes on our men and women in Iraq and Syria is unconscionable. We're supposed to have their backs.

DESANTIS: After the attacks against Israel, anyone with half a brain knows Iran is behind this. They fund Hamas. They fund Hezbollah. We did a special session of the legislature down in Florida. We expanded sanctions against Iran.

Ron DeSantis: Don't force two-state solution; Palestinians don't accept it

DESANTIS: We've got to support Israel in word and in deed. And they need to be able to finish the job. This is a time to recognize that they've suffered the most murder of Jews since the Holocaust. Hamas wants a second Holocaust. They want to annihilate the state of Israel. We also have a disagreement. When Gov. Haley was at the U.N., she supported the idea of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. The problem with that is the Palestinian Arabs don't recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. So doing a two-state solution doesn't create something that's going to lead to a lasting peace. It creates a stepping stone for Israel's destruction. So under no circumstances as president am I going to pressure Israel to risk their security to do a so called two-state solution. She was wrong when she embraced that.

Ron DeSantis: Florida expanded sanctions against Iran

DESANTIS: After the attacks against Israel, anyone with half a brain knows Iran is behind this. They fund Hamas. They fund Hezbollah. We did a special session of the legislature down in Florida. As the 14th largest economy in the world, we expanded sanctions against Iran. The root of this is Biden came into office and he relaxed the sanctions on Iran. They've had massive amounts of money flooding into their country. They take that money and they use it to fund jihad around the world. I would never put our troops in harm's way, like Biden is doing in the Middle East, without defending them with everything they got. If you harm a hair on the head of one of our servicemembers, you are going to have hell to pay.