American actor Robert De Niro described White House aide Stephen Miller, who is Jewish, as a “Nazi” during an appearance on the MSNBC program “The Weekend.”

De Niro, 82, made the comment on Sunday while saying he believes that US President Donald Trump will push for a third term in office after his current term ends. The actor is an avid critic of Trump, who under the US Constitution cannot seek another term in office.

“We see it, we see it, we see it … we see it all the time — he will not want to leave. He set it up with his, I guess he’s the Goebbels of the cabinet, Stephen Miller. He’s a Nazi. Yes, he is,” the “Casino” star said, comparing Miller to Nazi Party propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

“And he’s [Miller’s] Jewish, and he should be ashamed of himself,” De Niro added about Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, who is also the co-founder of America First Legal. Miller has not responded to De Niro’s accusations.

De Niro’s comments came as thousands of people over the weekend participated in “No Kings” demonstrations in New York and across the country to protest Trump. De Niro described the president as a man with “no empathy” who wants to “hurt” the US.

The “Goodfellas” actor and longtime New Yorker was also asked about the upcoming mayoral election in New York. He said he is still unsure who he will vote for, but also praised Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, who has been accused of promoting antisemitic and anti-Israel views. “He is young and smart, and he means well,” De Niro said. “He’s not a mean person. He’s not a bad person … at the end of the day I feel that – and at this point I don’t know enough yet to go further, but – he could be somebody that would be the right choice.”

Turkey’s ties to Hamas, once a liability in Washington, have turned into a geopolitical asset. By persuading Hamas to accept Donald Trump’s Gaza deal, Ankara has reasserted itself on the Middle East chessboard, to the dismay of Israel and Arab rivals.

Initially resistant to the US president’s ultimatum — free the Israeli hostages or face continued devastation — Hamas leaders relented only when Turkey, a country they view as a political patron, urged them to agree to the American plan.

Two regional sources and two Hamas officials told Reuters that Ankara’s message was unequivocal: The time had come to accept.

“This gentleman from a place called Turkey is one of the most powerful in the world,” Trump said last week, referring to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, after the Palestinian terrorist group agreed to a ceasefire and hostage-release plan.

“He’s a reliable ally. He’s always there when I need him.”

Erdogan’s signature on the Gaza document supercharged Turkey‘s push for a central role in the Middle East, a status Erdogan has increasingly sought to reclaim, often invoking Ottoman-era ties and leadership.

Now, after the deal, Turkey is seeking to reap dividends, including in bilateral issues with the US, the sources said.

Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based think tank EDAM and a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, said Ankara’s success in delivering Hamas’s acceptance of Trump’s Gaza deal has given it new diplomatic leverage at home and abroad.

Turkey, he said, is likely to use its renewed goodwill in Washington to push for progress on stalled F-35 fighter jet sales, an easing of US sanctions, and US help in advancing Turkey‘s security goals in neighboring Syria.

“If those laudatory statements from Trump translate into lasting goodwill, Ankara could use that momentum to resolve some of the long-standing disagreements,” Ulgen told Reuters.

AT TRUMP-ERDOGAN MEETING, A REVAMP OF TIES BEGAN

The diplomatic recalibration between Ankara and Washington, officials said, began during Erdogan’s September visit to the White House, his first in six years.

The meeting addressed unresolved flashpoints, including Turkey‘s push to lift US sanctions imposed in 2020 over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems, a move that angered Washington and also led to its removal from the F-35 program.

Syria was another key topic. Turkey wants to pressure the US-backed Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to merge into the Syrian army. Ankara views the SDF as a threat due to its ties to the PKK, which Turkey designates a terrorist group.

That push appears to be gaining ground. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi confirmed a mechanism to merge with the Syrian army, an outcome Turkey sees as a strategic win.

The Gaza deal follows other boosts to Turkish prestige. Trump praised Erdogan for hosting Russia-Ukraine talks earlier this year, and Ankara’s influence grew after Bashar al-Assad’s fall in Syria in 2024, where Turkey backed opposition forces.

Turkey’s ambition to reclaim a dominant Middle East role recalls for some sceptics the legacy of the Ottoman empire, which once ruled much of the region. Its collapse a century ago left modern Turkey inward-looking as it built a secular republic and somewhat sidelined from regional diplomacy.

For years, Ankara was not part of high-level efforts to solve the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a core source of regional instability. Turkey‘s support for Islamist movements — including political and diplomatic backing for Hamas, whose leaders it has hosted — strained ties with Israel and several Arab states, and its perceived drift under Erdogan from NATO norms further distanced it from peacemaking.

But to break the deadlock in Gaza ceasefire talks, Trump turned to Erdogan, betting on the Turkish leader’s sway over Hamas. Turkish officials, led by spy chief Ibrahim Kalin, assured Hamas the ceasefire had regional and US backing, including Trump’s personal guarantee.

By enlisting Erdogan, Trump handed Ankara the role it craved as a dominant regional Sunni power. The move unsettled Israel and rival Arab states, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, long wary of Erdogan’s Islamist ambitions, two diplomats said.

“Erdogan is a master in expanding his influence, seizing opportunities, taking advantage of events, turning them to his own interest and taking credit for them,” said Arab political commentator Ayman Abdel Nour. “Obviously the Gulf countries were not happy about Turkey taking a leading role on Gaza but at the same time they wanted this conflict to end, to see an agreement and to see Hamas sidelined.”

While Arab states shared an interest with Turkey in ending the war, said Lebanese analyst Sarkis Naoum, the larger role given to Ankara was worrisome for them, recalling the history of Ottoman imperial rule over many countries in the region.

Turkey‘s Foreign Ministry and MIT intelligence agency did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. The US State Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

For Hamas, the main concern was that Israel might renege on the deal and resume military operations. Deep distrust nearly derailed the process, regional sources said.

“The only real guarantee,” a senior Hamas official told Reuters, “came from four parties: Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, and the Americans. Trump personally gave his word. The US message was: ‘release the hostages, hand over the bodies, and I guarantee there will be no return to war.’”

CRUSHING PRESSURE ON HAMAS

Turkey’s entry into the talks was initially vetoed by Israel, but Trump intervened, pressuring Israel to allow Ankara’s involvement, two diplomats said.

There was no immediate comment from Israel’s foreign ministry.

A senior Hamas official said Gaza’s military leaders accepted the truce not as surrender, but under the crushing pressure of relentless mediation, a collapsing humanitarian situation, and a war-weary public.

The deal won the release of Israeli hostages taken during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which killed 1,200 people, and triggered an Israeli offensive.

Whether the Gaza deal will eventually open a way toward a Palestinian state remains unclear. Turkey and Arab states including Qatar and Egypt say the plan lacks a roadmap toward a two-state solution, a historic Palestinian demand.

Asked about a potential Turkish troop deployment to Gaza in a post-war scenario and ways to ensure the enclave’s security, Erdogan said on Oct. 8 the ceasefire talks were critical for discussing the issue in detail, but the priority was achieving a full ceasefire, aid deliveries and rebuilding Gaza.

Syria hopes US sanctions will be fully lifted in the coming months and has started the process of restructuring billions of dollars of debt amassed during Bashar al-Assad’s rule, Economy Minister Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar said.

President Donald Trump ordered the lifting of most US sanctions on Syria in May after meeting President Ahmed al-Sharaa, but the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 that authorizes them remains US law.

“We have to do some push and some lobbying to continue with this path that started in the right direction, and we’re hoping by the end of the year the bill [to scrap the act] will reach the president [Trump], and hopefully he’ll sign it,” al-Shaar told Reuters during a conference in London.

“And once that happens, then we are sanctions-free,” he said on the sidelines of the Future Resilience Forum.

HOPES FOR A REDUCTION OF US TARIFFS

The act’s removal will enable foreign investment, restore access to international banking, and help revive key industries.

Al-Shaar hopes Washington will reduce its 41 percent tariffs on trade with Syria and that US firms will invest in the country as the economy opens up.

Gulf countries have pledged support and Chinese firms have committed hundreds of millions of dollars, Al-Shaar said, for “big” new cement, plastic, and sugar factories.

The government is on course to introduce a new currency early next year, he said.

Sources said in August that new banknotes would be issued in December, removing two zeros – and Assad’s face – from the currency, to try to restore public confidence.

Syria‘s pound has lost over 99 percent of its value since the civil war began in 2011 but has been broadly stable in recent months.

“We’re consulting with many entities, international organizations, experts, and eventually it will come very soon,” al-Shaar said of the currency.

RECONSTRUCTION COSTS

A World Bank report on Tuesday estimated the cost of Syria‘s reconstruction at $216 billion, saying the figure was a “conservative best estimate.”

Al-Shaar said the amount could be over 1 trillion dollars if the rebuild brought infrastructure up to date but would be spread over a long time, with the rebuilding of houses alone likely to take 6-7 years.

Asked about plans to overhaul Syria‘s debt burden, al-Shaar said the process had started already.

“The sovereign debt that we have, which is not very big actually, will be restructured,” he said, adding that Syria would be asking for grace periods and other relief.

Assad left Syria in disarray when he was ousted last December and fighting continued in the oil-producing north until a ceasefire was struck this month.

“I’m hopeful that the next maybe few weeks, or maybe a month or two, we will reach some kind of an agreement with those who are controlling that part of Syria,” Al-Shaar said.

“Once that happens, I think we will have greater ability, financial, natural resources, to really start meaningful [investment] projects,” he said, predicting a “quantum leap in our GDP.”