In his last campaign, US President Donald Trump vowed to bring peace to the Middle East and promote stability in the chaotic region. On the 100th day since Trump took office, those goals have yet to be achieved—but the president has been making waves in the region nonetheless.
Gaza ceasefire and hostage release
Soon after Trump took office, a ceasefire was achieved between Israel and Hamas during which 33 hostages were released. When Hamas seemed to waver on releasing a group of hostages, the president pressured the group on social media, warning that “not a single Hamas member will be safe if you don’t do as I say.”
The hostages who were freed during Trump’s tenure have expressed their gratitude and called on the president to secure the release of the 59 hostages still in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his return to office. During that visit, Trump announced a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, relocate its Palestinian residents, and turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” Netanyahu seemed surprised by the announcement but praised the plan as a bold new idea.
Trump also approved a series of arms deals with Israel, providing the country with weapons that had been blocked by the Biden administration.
More recently, relations between Trump and Netanyahu have been shaky. In March, it was revealed that the US had engaged in rare direct negotiations with Hamas in an attempt to secure the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander. According to media reports, Netanyahu was frustrated by Trump’s decision to pursue direct negotiations.
In April, Netanyahu returned to Washington with the goal of achieving a reduction in tariffs and getting the US to prioritize Israeli interests in negotiations with Iran. Despite his best efforts, he seemed to walk away empty handed from his meeting with Trump—suggesting that the effortlessly close ties between Trump and Netanyahu may be softening.
Trump pulled out of nuclear deal with Iran
One of Trump’s key foreign policy moves of his first term was pulling out of the nuclear deal with Iran, which he described as “the worst deal in history.” In his second term, Trump has promised to sign a better deal with the Islamic republic.
“I want Iran to be a wonderful, great, happy country, but they can’t have a nuclear weapon,” he said earlier this month. The president has threatened to strike Iran in a joint operation with the Israeli military if a deal isn’t reached.
Negotiations between representatives from the US and Iran are set to continue in Rome this weekend.
Trump has vowed to 'completely annihilate' Yemen's Houthis
Trump inherited the Red Sea shipping crisis from his predecessor, President Joe Biden. Since October 2023, Yemen’s Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea that they claim to have connections to Israel, significantly damaging international shipping.
Trump has vowed to “completely annihilate” the Houthis and significantly ramped up the campaign of airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen that Biden started.
Last month’s Signal chat leak revealed disunity in the Trump administration regarding strikes on the Houthis. Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, said that striking the Houthis seemed to be “a mistake,” noting that the threats to freedom of navigation posed by the Houthis affect Europe more than the US.
“The strongest reason to do this is, as POTUS said, to send a message,” Vance wrote. “I am not sure the president is aware of how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now.”
Despite the apparent discord, the US has continued to strike Houthi sites in Yemen.
Achieving normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel
Trump’s first phone call with a foreign leader after returning to office was with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. After that call, Trump committed to visiting Saudi Arabia in his first foreign trip of the term—in exchange for Saudi Arabia’s commitment to invest $1 trillion in the US.
The pope’s funeral in Vatican City ended up being the catalyst for the president’s first foreign trip, but next month, President Trump will fly to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump sees these Gulf countries as stabilizing forces in the Middle East that can help promote American interests.
Trump has long sought to achieve normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel, much as he did between Israel and four Arab countries in the Abraham Accords achieved in his first term. In an interview with Time Magazine earlier this week, Trump said he expects Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel “very quickly.”
Saudi Arabia has insisted that normalization with Israel is a nonstarter without a plan for Palestinian statehood. That may pose a problem for President Trump, who seems to have no interest in promoting a two-state solution.