Middle East "Totally Out Of Control" - Trump Says World Needs US Leader Who Can Negotiate Peace
President Biden has said that US support to Israel is unconditional, and yet also recently chastised the close US ally for "indiscriminate" bombing of Gaza and the soaring civilian death toll there, in an unexpected about-face on the issue. Biden also refused to let the Pentagon respond directly to Yemeni Houthi attacks on both commercial shipping and US Navy vessels (some Pentagon officials described feeling handcuffed given US inaction), but then just this week belatedly reversed course again and set up a 10-nation naval coalition to counter Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
It's obvious to anyone that the Middle East is in chaos and on edge. Apart from conflicts in Yemen and the Red Sea, and the still raging Israeli ground operation which has stretched into Gaza's south of late, there could easily be a major war in Lebanon, as Hezbollah and Israel are exchanging fire on the northern border. But the commander-in-chief is sleepier than ever.
Former US President Donald Trump has seized on all this and has made it central to his campaign messaging, having told a recent campaign rally in Reno, Nevada that the Middle East is "out of control" under Joe Biden.
He said the same on Truth Social in a post, and further touted that unlike Biden, he is capable of preventing a WW3 scenario and coming disaster if elected in 2024. He said the Gaza crisis could be "catastrophe" if not handled by a US commander-in-chief with "strength and precision."
"I am the only candidate who can make this promise to you: I will prevent World War III," he said. Trump further pointed out that Biden had squandered opportunities to push forward the landmark Abraham Accords which had made peace between Israel and several Arab states for the first time. The Trump-envisioned and brokered plan had as a chief goal the normalization of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but it's now fast unraveling.
He told the crowd in Reno that he would have "made peace" in the region on the basis of the Abraham Accords. The Oct.7 Hamas terror raids and resulting Israeli massive aerial and ground operation into Gaza has quashed hopes for a revived peace. Trump has featured this message in campaign events stretching back to last Spring.
Trump's claims about the Middle East run parallel what he's long said of the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
The former president is campaigning on the claim that, under his leadership, the conflict in the Middle East would not have erupted, and neither would the hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he could stop the latter crisis in 24 hours. With Biden left in power for another four years after the 2024 election, the world faces an existential threat, Trump told supporters in Nevada.
In interviews in November and prior, Trump said he could solve the crisis in Ukraine within 24 hours if he’s re-elected. "If I tell you exactly, I lose all my bargaining chips," he had told NBC, talking about plans to bring a rapid peace settlement.
'Just as in the 1970s, conflict in the Middle East is threatening to give rise to chaos in the energy markets and rising inflation.'@philippilk on the targeting of commercial ships in the Red Sea 👇 https://t.co/mhuoyGOOxP
— UnHerd (@unherd) December 18, 2023
"I would say certain things to Putin. I would say certain things to Zelensky" the Republican frontrunner said at the time, and added that he will "make a fair deal for everybody." But whether in Gaza or in Ukraine, it's very unclear exactly how he would go about negotiating a permanent settlement to these very complex conflicts which are expected to have a long duration.