Mike Johnson says West Bank belongs to Israel after Trump's opposition to annexation

 Judea and Samaria belong to Israel, US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Sunday.

In response to a question by Tony Perkins on the Washington Watch radio show about US President Donald Trump’s opposition to Israeli annexation of the West Bank, he said: “I believe that Judea and Samaria are the traditional lands that belong to Israel. But there are a lot of geopolitical forces at play here. I think there’s still a lot to resolve, and we will have to see how this develops.”

Last Thursday, Trump told reporters: “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen... There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”

When asked whether he had spoken with Trump about Judea and Samaria, Johnson said he had not yet had the opportunity to discuss this specific matter since Trump’s initial statement.

Mike Johnson discussing Trump's statements on the West Bank on an interview with Tony Perkins on Sunday September 28th, 2025. Credit: Amichai Stein/Section27a

Mike Johnson met with Netanyahu in the West Bank 

Johnson was recently in Israel, becoming the first speaker of the House of Representatives to visit Judea and Samaria.

He also participated in a historic meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Samaria settlement of Shiloh last month, marking the first high-level meeting between a prime minister and a senior American official in the West Bank.

Johnson’s meeting with Netanyahu followed an unprecedented official visit to Ariel by a delegation of senior Trump administration officials and members of Congress that Johnson led.

While in Ariel, Johnson, who is the third-highest-ranking official in the US political system, said he would work to eliminate the use of the term West Bank at the federal level and instead promote the exclusive use of Judea and Samaria for those areas.