The U.S. designated a "Palestinian Affairs Unit" within its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem for the purpose of handling relations with the PNA, but Palestine is presently maintaining a public policy of non-cooperation with the office and with the U.S. in general.

Officially, the State of Palestine seeks international recognition based on the pre-1967 borders of Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital city.

However, an unofficial PLO Information Office was permitted to establish in New York in 1964 and was run by Sadat Hassan, who served as Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations.

[3] In 1987, the United States Congress adopted the Anti-Terrorism Act, which declared the PLO a terrorist organization, with a consequential ban on assisting it in any way,[4][5] and the government ordered the closure of the PIO.

[15] From 1974 onward, some circles in the Department of State were considering accepting the PLO as a partner in the Middle East peace process.

[18] However, due to U.S. support of the Israeli government Washington agreed in 1975 to demand PLO explicit recognition of the State of Israel as a precondition to any dealing with its representatives.

[28] The Palestine Liberation Organization published the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in November 1988, and accepted United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, recognized Israel's right to exist, and renounced terrorism, the US conditions for an open dialogue between the PLO and the U.S.

[6] The dialogue continued under President George H. W. Bush, but was suspended in June 1990 following PLO refusal to condemn an attempted attack on the Israeli coastline by the Palestine Liberation Front.

When asked at a press conference immediately after the Gulf War about a possible dialog with the PLO, Bush stated: To me, they've lost credibility.

I welcome Prime Minister Shamir's statement that he supports our proposal, and I call upon Israel and the Palestinians to clear away remaining obstacles and seize this truly historic opportunity for peace.

[34] Bush's efforts culminated in the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991, which for the first time accepted an official Palestinian delegation, even though without open PLO participation.

[35] On 10 September 1993, the eve of the signing of the Oslo Agreement between the Israeli government and the PLO, Clinton announced the resumption of the U.S.–PLO dialogue, suspended in 1990.

[36] The signing ceremony of the Oslo Accord on 13 September 1993, was held in Washington, D.C. in the presence of Clinton, even though negotiations for the agreement took place under the auspices of the Norwegian government.

The Clinton administration also assisted materially to the formation of the Palestinian Authority by hosting the first donor conference for that purpose, held in Washington, D.C. on 1 October 1993.

In October 1993, Congress passed the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1993, which authorized the U.S. government to monitor PLO compliance with international law.

Obama told Abbas that the United States would veto any UN Security Council move to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Despite the passage on 29 November 2012, of the UN General Assembly resolution recognizing Palestine as a non-member observer state, Obama visited the Palestinian Authority for the first time as a President in March 2013.

On his visit to Israel on 22 May 2017 Trump met Netanyahu and was shown by the latter tapes that appeared to show Mahmoud Abbas advocating the killing of children.

After their meeting ended, Rex Tillerson was called in and shown the same material, a 'crudely forged video', and told the president the clips looked like fabrications.

Woodward appears to suggest that this disinformation was behind Trump's decision to close the PLO office in Washington and cut off aid to the organization.

[52][53] On 6 December 2017, Trump announced the U.S.'s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move condemned by Abbas, who described it as indicating U.S. withdrawal from its mediation role.

[54] On 10 September 2018, Trump ordered the closure of the Palestinian office in Washington, D.C., citing the PLO's lack of progress in the peace process.

[66] On 4 March 2019, the consulate-general ceased operating as an independent mission and was revamped as the Palestinian Affairs Unit, reporting to the embassy.

[67][68][69][70] In response, Saeb Erekat, the secretary-general of the PLO's executive committee called for the international community to boycott the new Palestinian Affairs Unit, regarding it as a "downgrade" and "assault" on the peace process.

She condemned as "despicable" Hamas's violence against its own people, its use of Palestinian children as pawns, and its indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilian areas, and called it one of the greatest obstacles to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

[75] In November 2019, Donald Trump rejected the request by Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the transfer of $12 million to the security forces of Palestine Authority (PA).

[83][84] In addition on 7 March 2024, the U.S. military announced the construction of the Gaza floating pier to enable the delivery of humanitarian assistance by sea.

[85] Palestinian-US relations reached a new crisis in April 2024, as the US government vetoed a proposed Security Council resolution to accept Palestine as a full UN member.

[86] Already during the transition period leading to his second term, Trump pressured both Israel and the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip to reach an agreement on ceasefire and return of Israeli captives in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Following a February 4th, 2025 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump again suggested that Palestinians be relocated to other countries.