President Trump and his wife Melania welcomed Binyamin Netanyahu, with his wife Sara, to Washington for the two leaders’ first meeting since the US election

President Trump took the search for peace in the Middle East into a new era yesterday by abandoning the United States’ goal of an independent Palestinian state.

Mr Trump said that he was optimistic about striking a deal with Israel’s Arab neighbours, but he made clear that he was open to a settlement significantly different from the two-state solution championed by the US and much of the world for the past few decades.

“I’m looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one,” he said after welcoming Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to the White House.

Such an approach would abandon the cornerstone of the peace process pursued by Republican and Democrat presidents