CNN
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President Donald Trump left the Middle East on Friday to promote economic deals and portray himself as a ticket to peaceful solutions in many of the world’s major conflicts.
A four-day trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates revealed a president with old habits.
Still, some of the challenges around the world have proved too cumbersome for this week’s major breakthrough as Russian war in Ukraine, the Israeli-Hama conflict and nuclear tensions with Iran continued to provide a background to instability.
This is an important takeaway from Trump’s visit to Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi.
When he traveled from Riyadh to Doha and Abu Dhabi this week, the president fully embraced the trade nature of his foreign policy agenda and worldview.
For him, deal makers and peacekeepers wear one hat.
“The new generation of leaders transcend the ancient conflicts and the tired divisions of the past, forging a future in which the Middle East is defined by commerce rather than chaos,” Trump said in a speech in Saudi Arabia. He issued a call that “not terrorism, but technology, people of different countries, religions and beliefs are building cities together, not existing and not bombing.”
These dull words led his foreign policy objectives to a more keen focus, and became even more clear when Trump announced that he would make a major change in US foreign policy and that sanctions against Syria would “give them great opportunities.”
“It’s time to shine,” Trump said. “We’ve taken them all off. I wish Syria good luck. Show me something very special.”
No attention has been paid to Trump’s comments, and no one has been made public a day after he became the first US president in 25 years to hold a face-to-face meeting with Syrian leaders.
By the end of the week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio had tried to clarify the US position. He said the regime would begin by issuing temporary exemptions from several Syrian sanctions. He said the permanent abolition would come later at a request to Congress.
“We’re not there yet,” Rubio said. “That’s too early.”
With all the deals Trump announced this week, one of the biggest global challenges remains elusive. It involves Russian President Vladimir Putin personally involved in peace negotiations with Ukraine.
“We have to meet,” Trump said Friday. “He and I will meet and I don’t think we’ll solve it or not.”
The sharp tongue that Trump often delivers to his foreigners is not the fierce tongue. Putin repeatedly moved Trump’s goal posts that continued to give Putin a pass.
The ball is again in the courthouse in Moscow. This is a significant point of dissatisfaction for Ukrainian President Voldymir Zelensky. He and other European leaders wanted to call out Trump when he returned to Washington and convince him to believe that “the pressure on Russia must be maintained.”
For several days, Trump called on his trip to hear and teased the idea of flying to Turkey to personally mediate the story of the Russian Ukraine. Trump was hanging when Putin revealed he wasn’t going.
One of the biggest questions to quickly consume the White House heading over the weekend and next week: When will Trump and Putin meet? Or when will Trump put his feet down?
The Russian issue was not the only incident during Trump’s trip, which highlighted restrictions on some of his most ambitious goals.
Efforts to achieve Israeli Hama’s ceasefire and hostage deals continue to face major obstacles, as he said in his inaugural address in January, that are blocking Trump’s attempts to cast himself as “peace superintendent.”
Trump would have hoped to reveal a major agreement between Israel and Hamas during this trip – and could have stopped in Israel. However, the conflict is at risk of escalation as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to launch a more intensive phase of the war in Gaza after a Trump trip in the region.
And while Trump continues to express his optimism about his nuclear deal outlook with Iran, complicated debates do not appear near the solution. The Trump administration is hoping Iran will respond to the proposals discussed last weekend. Two sources say that the dates for these talks have not been set yet, but are under discussion.
In Doha on Thursday, the president indicated that negotiators were “very close” to the deal, and that Iran had “a kind of agreement” on terms, and that Iran agreed not to describe him as “nuclear dust.”
Trump reiterated during his trip. Iran has failed to have nuclear weapons and warned of severe consequences if it were. Iranian President Masuud Pezeshkian responded by saying that Trump “is naive to think that he would come to our area and threaten us and that we would return against his demands.”
Several Democrats, the president’s harshest critics, praised Trump’s move to lift decades-old sanctions on Syria and sit with the country’s new leaders, claiming it could provide the country with an economic lifeline and help rebuild the region.
The admiration ranged from Rep. Leon Panetta to Rep. Jim Himez and Sen. Chris Murphy. The cymbal admitted slightly that he thought Trump was doing a good job of dealing with most of his Middle East trip.
The two former Biden staff members also personally said his trip – except Trump’s plan to accept free planes from Qatar, which he announced in advance and expanded his personal business portfolio, his trip was a foreign policy success.
The 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia included First Lady Melania Trump, but the president this time traveled solo and released him to spend large-scale time with kings, princes and business leaders.
In general, his family has played a scaled role in his second administration. His eldest son, Ivanka Trump, was a senior adviser during his first term and attended many of his overseas trips, before leaving politics. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was committed to advising the presidential team in the area prior to his trip, but Kushner did not participate in it.
Still, family business was on the verge of massive scale. The Trump organization run by his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is involved in major real estate projects in the countries he visited.
Additionally, Trump named his son Baron Trump, who promoted support from popular podcaster Theo Fon while on his visit with the US military. And on Thursday, his daughter, Tiffany Trump, gave birth to her first child.
“There was a little announcement from beautiful grandchildren, boy, Tiffany and Michael. So we’re very excited about it. I’m looking forward to it. I should have left yesterday, but I couldn’t disappoint you,” Trump told his Emirati host on Friday.
Trump’s domestic political enemy had problems with his mind during his stay in the Middle East. The president was targeting Democrats, the media and celebrities throughout his trip.
The president has largely ignored the longstanding norm of avoiding attacks on domestic rivals while traveling abroad, but this time his jab was personal, frequent and impressive.
“He did nothing. He was incompetent and incompetent,” he told Riyadh’s Gulf Cooperation Council.
He chuckled former Transport Secretary Pete Battigie for his bike commute when he held a roundtable with Qatari business leaders. The former Democratic presidential candidate reappeared on the national stage this week for Iowa City Hall amid speculation about a 2028 presidential bid.
“He runs the world’s largest aviation system and works with his bike. And they say he’s going to run for president. I don’t see that. Who knows?
And when he visited an area known to restrain freedom of the press, and in some countries, by approving the murder of journalists, Trump called the media “enemy.”
Hours after takeoff, the president trained his anger with Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteen in a series of social media posts, calling Swift and Springsteen “the rocker ‘dry’.” Springsteen denounced Trump earlier this week by the British crowd.
Dignity, Situation, CyberTrack
The former reality TV star is acutely aware of the presidency stage position, especially in international travel. And his host understood the challenges and provided gorgeous fanfare displays at each stop, strengthening his relationship with Trump.
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman salutes of the Royal Purple Carpet, trumpet and 21 guns. In Doha, a fleet of Red Tesla Cybertoukes led the president’s car and arrived at a fleet of camels and Arabian horses that had arrived at its destination. And in Abu Dhabi, Trump danced with drums, Americans and children waving Emirati flags, throwing traditional Gulf dances with long hair.
Trump’s team noted the details welcomed at each stop, as illuminated by the American flag motif and military fighter escorts.
Trump’s hosts were able to put it thickly and in turn secure major agreements and new cooperation with the United States.
For example, the Crown Prince’s long-standing efforts to flatter Trump and build relationships led to Trump’s decision to meet with the interim Syrian president.
His warm relationship with the host this week was in stark contrast to the way the president received several of his other counterparts considered close to the US, including the dramatically controversial oval office meeting with Ukrainian Zelensky.