How Trump stunned the world as he flipped America’s Middle East policy on its head

Moments after President Donald Trump was escorted to Air Force One by United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president popped his head into the press cabin.

He had just walked up to the plane on a baby blue red carpet – a final pop of pomp after his showy nearly four-day sweep through the Middle East.

The 78-year-old president visited a trio of countries in just three and a half days, with a schedule that stretched late into the evening with opulent state dinners every night. 

He had referred to the whirlwind trip as an ‘endurance test’ and repeated that sentiment to the press. 

‘You have great stamina, also. We all have stamina. You needed it. That was a test. I think they were giving us a test,’ Trump said with a laugh, commending his hosts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. 

The Middle East tour provided Trump with the kind of made-for-TV moments that the president adores.

There was Trump arriving in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh with Arabian horses prancing alongside the Beast. 

In Qatar it was camels – which were also served to eat. 

And in the United Arab Emirates Trump delighted in the ‘Al-Ayyala’ hair flip dancers performing as he walked into yet another over-the-top palace.

The trip allowed him to slip into the role he honed on The Apprentice – America’s businessman.

‘I’m just thinking – we have a President of the United States doing the selling. You think Biden would be doing this? I don’t think so,’ Trump cheekily said as an aside to the press as he walked through a showcase of joint UAE and U.S. business deals Friday morning.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (left) gave President Donald Trump (right) a personal send-off on Friday, with the two leaders walking a baby blue carpet to Air Force One 

The trip allowed for Trump to play the role he on The Apprentice – America’s businessman. On Friday morning he remarked: ‘I’m just thinking – we have a president of the United States doing the selling. You think Biden would be doing this? I don’t think so’ 

He then touted billions in investment in healthcare, energy, aluminum, airplanes and entertainment.

‘And you know, they were being wooed by others, but there’s no more wooing. I think we’re in pretty good shape. There’s no more wooing,’ Trump boasted.

He didn’t mention the controversy hanging over the entire visit – his decision to accept the gift of a $400 million plane from Qatar to use as a temporary Air Force One. 

Instead, he ranted about the backlash from Republicans and Democrats on an interview in Abu Dhabi with Fox News’ Bret Baier that aired Friday night.

‘When you look at a new 747, and you look at a plane that’s 42 years old, not even the same plane, the other ones are bigger and sleeker and sharper. And it doesn’t look right,’ he told Baier.

He also claimed that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was insulted by the backlash from his gift. 

‘I think he was insulted, actually. He made a gift to help somebody that has helped them,’ Trump went on.

The day before, he held a campaign-like rally for the troops at the Al Udeid Air Base base outside of Doha.

The hangar was dressed for the occasion – with the walls covered in camouflage mesh and the presidential podium flanked with a drone and a war plane. 

Tanks were situated around the room, giving it a similar feeling to Trump’s grand Fourth of July event that he held at the Lincoln Memorial in 2019.

Sparing no expense, Lee Greenwood was flown in to sing the president’s walk-on song live and comedian Theo Von thrilled the troops with a spicy opening act.

But one of the most important moments of the trip was held behind closed doors.

Trump announced Tuesday in Saudi Arabia that as a favor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan he would drop the Assad-era sanctions on Syria.

The next morning, he was face-to-face with the country’s new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is a former al-Qaeda in Iraq fighter who was on the U.S.’s terrorist watchlist.

That meeting, which was private, represented a remarkable turnaround on U.S. foreign policy, from the same party that nominated President George W. Bush.

President Donald Trump dances onstage at the Al Udeid Air Base outside of Doha in Qatar. Camo mesh was draped throughout a hangar and Trump stood onstage next to a Q-9 Reaper drone

The president was delighted by children who performed the ‘Al-Ayyala’ hair flip as he was greeted by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Qasr Al Watan, in Abu Dhabi Thursday night for a state visit 

Camels lined the streets for President Donald Trump in Doha Wednesday night for his state dinner in the Qatari capital 

One of the most important moments on President Donald Trump’s (right) trip happened behind closed doors. On Wednesday morning, he met with Syria’s new leader President Ahmed al-Sharaa (left) after pledging to drop Assad-era sanctions on the country 

Out were the neo-conservative ideas about building democracies in the Middle East and in was giving a rebel leader with a ‘strong past,’ as Trump put it, a chance to put Syria back together.

It also earned him a rare bit of bipartisan praise. 

For sanctions relief, Trump can issue waivers that will have to be renewed every 180 days – or get Congress to act.

Perhaps earning him some more bipartisan goodwill, Trump suggested to the Daily Mail on board Air Force One that he asked after Austin Tice, the American journalist who was abducted in Syria in 2012, during his meeting with al-Sharaa.

‘I always ask about Austin Tice,’ he answered. 

‘Now Austin Tice hasn’t been seen in many, many years, you know that. He’s got a great mother who’s just working so hard to find her boy. So I understand it. But Austin has not been seen in many, many years.’  

This trip also marked Trump’s first time to a mosque as president – and he visited two in two days.

It’s a positive change for Trump, who as a presidential candidate in 2016 reacted to President Barack Obama’s mosque visit in February 2016 by cattily saying, ‘maybe he feels comfortable there.’ 

President Donald Trump visited a mosque for the first time as president on Thursday – and again on Friday. On Thursday he toured Abu Dhabi’s biggest mosque, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

President Donald Trump tours the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on Thursday as part of his three country tour of the Middle East 

President Donald Trump also visited a mosque on Friday – part of the Abrahamic Family House that also includes a synagogue and church 

In both mosques, President Donald trump removed his shoes and sported only socks, as is culturally appropriate 

‘We have a lot of problems in this country, Greta,’ Trump told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. ‘There are a lot of places he can go and he chose a mosque. I saw that just a little while ago. So that’s his decision, it’s fine.’

Obama had been slow to visit an Islamic house of worship after detractors called him a ‘Muslim’ to trip up his 2008 campaign based on post-9/11 prejudice.

Walking through UAE’s largest mosque, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, on Thursday afternoon, Trump was awestruck.

‘It’s so beautiful. This is an incredible culture,’ Trump said. ‘I’m so very proud of my friends.’

The mosque is a recent addition to the Abu Dhabi skyline, opening in 2007.

The second mosque Trump toured – doing so again in sock-feet, as is appropriate – was built to spread a bigger message.

As part of the Abrahamic Family House, the mosque is situated on the same property as a church and synagogue to push peace and coexistence among the three Abrahamic religions.

His administration’s Abraham Accords aim to achieve a similar goal in country-to-country relations.

President Donald J. Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tour Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the ancestral home of the al Salman royal family, prior to a state dinner on Tuesday night 

President Donald Trump participates in an arrival ceremony with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al Thani at the Amiri Diwan, the official workplace of the emir on Wednesday 

President Donald Trump is given an Order of Zayed medal from UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Qasr Al Watan during a state visit Thursday night 

Signed at the end of his first administration, with a heavy lift done by son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the UAE and Israel and Bahrain. A handful of other countries have joined since.

Trump used the trip to give Saudi Arabia a subtle push toward signing them again – after movement was derailed by the Gaza war.

‘It’s my fervent hope, wish and even my dream that Saudi Arabia… will soon be joining the Abraham Accords,’ he said. ‘But you’ll do it in your own time.’ 

At the same time, no concrete progress was made on some of the world’s most glaring problems during Trump’s journey.

While Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander was being released by Hamas during Trump’s flight over, Israel was poised to put more firepower on Gaza as Trump left the region.

Trump had also – again – brought up a version of his ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ Gaza pitch – that Arab leaders had already wholly rejected.

During a business event Thursday morning in Doha, Trump pitched that the U.S. could ‘take’ Gaza and it could become a ‘freedom zone.’

Since Washington did little to back up Trump’s ‘Riviera’ plan after his original February 4 announcement alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Center for American Progress’ senior fellow for Geopolitics and Security Studies H. A. Hellyer, told the Daily Mail that he suspected Trump didn’t do too much harm.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters on board Air Force One at the conclusion of his three country swing to the Middle East on Friday 

‘After the Riviera Plan declaration, there was little movement from D.C.,’ Hellyer pointed out.

Instead, Arab leaders got together in Cairo and hatched an alternative Gaza plan.

‘Regional and international capitals aren’t likely to think that this statement is going to be much different, and I suspect there will be little reaction to it, and more of a focus of trying to get D.C. to stop Israel from starving the people of Gaza,’ Hellyer said.

Additionally, while Trump teased diverting Air Force One to Turkey to participate in the Russia-Ukraine talks, he scrapped that idea, telling reporters at the UAE business forum that he was heading back to Washington, D.C. and would soon meet his new grandchild.

On Thursday, Trump’s daughter Tiffany gave birth to her first child, a son.

Asked by the Daily Mail if he would dial up Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the talks going, Trump didn’t give a definitive answer.

‘I may, no, I may. He and I will meet and I think we’ll solve it. Or maybe not, but at least we’ll know. And if we don’t solve it, it will be very interesting,’ he said. 

Trump then headed to the front of the plane and showed off some incredible reach – using the flight home to call into a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders.

And announce to the world that Bruce Springsteen was a ‘prune’ and pop star Taylor Swift – after Trump dissed her – was ‘hot’ no longer. 

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