The president drew a sharp contrast with past U.S. administrations, rejecting the interventionist foreign policy approach of both political parties.
News Analysis
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s recent tour of the Middle East sent a clear message that economic interests and deal-making lie at the heart of his foreign policy vision.
Trump spent four days in the Gulf from May 13 to 16, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where he secured investment commitments worth trillions of dollars that will benefit U.S. businesses and jobs.
Though questions remain over how much of the pledged investment will materialize, the trip marked a strategic shift in Washington’s engagement with the Middle East. Trump drew a sharp contrast with past U.S. administrations, rejecting the interventionist foreign policy approach embraced by both Republican and Democratic parties for decades.
Speaking at an investment summit in Riyadh on May 13, Trump openly criticized previous U.S. policies toward Iraq, Afghanistan, and other parts of the region.
“In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far more nations than they built—and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves,” Trump said.
He lauded the achievements of the Gulf countries, stating that their transformation wasn’t the result of “Western interventionists flying people in beautiful planes, giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs.”
“No. The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neocons, or liberal nonprofits.”
The speech received warm applause from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the audience, emerging as one of the most talked-about events of his trip.
“It is not a secret that President Trump understands the political language of the Middle East more than any of his predecessors,” Dalia Ziada, senior fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told The Epoch Times.
Ziada, an Egyptian political analyst based in Washington, noted that Trump prioritized “building personal bonds of trust” with these leaders, rather than pressuring them on issues of democratization and human rights.
In the blistering heat of the Qatari desert, Trump addressed American troops at Al Udeid Air Base, reaffirming his commitment to “peace through strength” in the region.
By Emel Akan
