Trump’s Mideast team: A familiar look for a transformed region

May Be Interested In:UEFA Champions League score predictions, picks for Tuesday, February 18: Get ready for draws-a-plenty


When President-elect Donald Trump named a Middle East team for his second term, it struck some as a bit of déjà vu.

The team includes a real estate mogul with no diplomatic experience, a conservative religious leader who views Israel in messianic terms, and an Israel hawk relishing the prospect of taking on the international community.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Donald Trump has put together a Mideast team charged with building on his first term’s successes. But in a region shaken by the war in Gaza, can the deal-making president achieve a historic peace agreement with a team that is heavily pro-Israel?

“It suggests [Mr. Trump] liked what he got out of the first [Mideast] team,” says Michael Koplow, chief policy officer with the Israel Policy Forum in Washington, “and wants the same, only more and bigger, from this one.”

According to the president-elect’s own pronouncements, the new group will be tasked with ending the region’s wars – within a context of unlimited support for Israel – and with building on the landmark Abraham Accords to attain an agreement normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Analysts note the team is unlikely to work toward a Palestinian state, and faces a region deeply shaken by the war in Gaza.

“There will not be any normalization with Saudi Arabia until the fighting in Gaza stops,” Mr. Koplow says. “And it won’t happen if the Israelis are getting a green light [from the U.S.] to annex the West Bank or Gaza.”

When President-elect Donald Trump named a Middle East team for his second term, it struck some as a bit of déjà vu.

The team includes a real estate mogul with no diplomatic experience, a conservative religious leader who views Israel in messianic terms, and an Israel hawk relishing the prospect of taking on the international community.

“What strikes me about this team is the mirroring” and how “the people he’s chosen are reminiscent of the people he put in the same positions in the first term,” says Michael Koplow, chief policy officer with the Israel Policy Forum in Washington.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Donald Trump has put together a Mideast team charged with building on his first term’s successes. But in a region shaken by the war in Gaza, can the deal-making president achieve a historic peace agreement with a team that is heavily pro-Israel?

“It suggests he liked what he got out of the first team,” he adds, “and wants the same, only more and bigger, from this one.”

Just as Mr. Trump has moved with lightning speed to name his picks for the top positions in the incoming Cabinet, he also lost no time in forming a Middle East team. According to his own pronouncements, the new group will be tasked with ending the region’s wars – within a context of unlimited support for Israel – and building on the landmark Abraham Accords initiated in his first term.

Those accords established diplomatic relations between Israel and some Gulf States, and set off a flurry of economic and cultural exchanges further normalizing the Jewish state’s existence among its Arab neighbors.

share Share facebook pinterest whatsapp x print

Similar Content

Antony Vo and his mom Annie Vo inside the US Capitol building on January 6th 2021. Vo, who fled to Canada last year and was arrested in Whistler, B.C., on Jan. 6, 2025, remains in an immigration detention centre while he waits for an expected pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump’s pardon applies to Jan. 6 convict being held in Canada
Saif Ali Khan: Man detained over knife attack on Bollywood actor
Saif Ali Khan: Man detained over knife attack on Bollywood actor
How Venezuela Helps Feed the Violence in Colombia
How Venezuela Helps Feed the Violence in Colombia
Stonehenge may have been built to unify people of ancient Britain
Stonehenge may have been built to unify people of ancient Britain
Italy takes back 43 migrants following court ruling
Italy takes back 43 migrants following court ruling
Forget skipping the first act — fans are now petitioning to have openers removed if they don't like them | CBC News
Forget skipping the first act — fans are now petitioning to have openers removed if they don’t like them | CBC News
Frontpage Focus: The Day's Most Important Events | © 2024 | Daily News