President Trump’s whirlwind Middle East trip revealed a bold shift in strategic thinking; the beginning moves of America’s first truly 21st-century grand strategy. Some short-sighted “experts” have dismissed the trip as a glitzy, camel-riding, sword-dancing, hair-twirling, ego-stroking exercise showcasing nothing more than a transactional president’s transactional diplomacy.
I disagree.
They fail to understand that we’re 25 years into a new century that, in many ways, has lacked any coherent agenda from Washington on foreign policy or diplomatic goals across the globe. America was mugged by history on 9/11. The George W. Bush administration immediately (and aggressively) turned to the Global War on Terror, which carried with it nation-building and democracy promotion. Those goals were unattainable from the start, but Washington carried on.
That is, until now. And who else could do it this quickly but President Trump?
Just think, in some 130 days, President Trump has not just engaged in nearly every theater, but busted through “conventional” thought, called bluffs, reframed realities, compelled friends to act more friendly, and reminded enemies that consequences are real. (RELATED: Trump’s Foreign Policy — a Calculated Conundrum)
In the Middle East alone, President Trump is charting a new, brighter course with an eye to the future. He cheered Turkey’s role in facilitating talks between Ukraine and Russia and surprised many by lifting longstanding U.S. sanctions against Syria. This is a brilliant and opportune move that may pull Syria away from Russia and Iran, weakening their influence in the region. Trump also publicly called Syria’s new president to embrace the Abraham Accords and normalization of ties with Israel. (RELATED: The Abraham Accords Are the Way Toward Peace)
In the Gulf states, Trump inked well over $1.5 trillion in military and commercial deals. He has deftly chosen to prioritize economic prosperity, trade, AI, and advanced technology as opposed to the tired, ineffective discussions about the plight of the Palestinians. And yet, novel solutions regarding the Palestinians may be found because of Trump’s new tack. In fact, rumors have persisted for years — derailed temporarily by Hamas’s evil Oct. 7 attack on Israel — that Saudi Arabia may soon join the Abraham Accords. (RELATED: Trump Should Expand the Abraham Accords to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan)
A stunning moment in world history is not far off, one in which diplomacy and economic prosperity bear the fruit of peace in the Middle East. And the world will have President Trump to thank.
Yet some “experts” suggest that these moves, plus the fact that Trump didn’t visit Israel or meet with Netanyahu on this trip, hint at some irreparable rift in Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump and relations between Israel and the United States.
The hysteria is short-sighted and naive.
The relationship between America and Israel, Trump and Netanyahu, is ironclad. The same is true of the administration’s commitment to Israel, and it isn’t necessary to go to Israel to make that case. In fact, the president is doing essential work for Israel’s security by focusing on the moderate states in the Gulf.
Simultaneously and with little credit or praise, the Trump administration’s strategic peacemaking catalyzed a remarkable cooling of near-hot war tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. The Houthis’ rockets that were terrorizing Israel and shipping in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea have been silenced.
None of these things are one-offs or transactions. They are part of a bigger mosaic of the America First agenda.
In a way, they’re unremarkable. Trump is simply doing and building upon what he told us he would do during his presidential campaigns and first term; we just weren’t prepared for his speed and determination once back in the Oval Office. None of this should be unexpected.
He is walking out a preplanned America First Grand Strategy, arguably the first such comprehensive strategy of this century.
How could we have made it a fourth of the way through the 2000s without a grand strategy? After 9/11, the Bush administration did not have the opportunity to develop a grander look at the world that addressed the nuances of great power competition, the coming power of the Global South, and the dire need for new regional partnerships because it had to focus on the Global War on Terror. President Obama wanted to get out of Iraq, but then ISIS came along. As proven by conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other groups, the Global War on Terror isn’t entirely over.
Still, Trump is the first president who has been able to go beyond the Global War on Terror to say we are going to position ourselves — and the entire Middle East — for the long run. Gulf States want a world marked by regional stability and economic prosperity, and so does the United States. We’ll engage with new global actors to rise above new, not ancient, challenges. We’ll cultivate diverse regional partnerships that jointly carry the onus for regional security, stability, and prosperity.
This is a grand shift in thinking and represents a new strategic doctrine, the Trump Doctrine.
Kiron Skinner, PhD, is Taube Family Chair of International Relations at Pepperdine School of Public Policy and served as director of policy planning at the State Department during the first Trump administration.
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