US President Donald Trump seems to think Israel could ruin his big trip to the Middle East, and it’s causing trouble. Trump appears to want the Middle East to have a respite from war and mass starvation during his trip to the oil-rich Gulf starting on Tuesday. He is signaling that he can leave Israel in the dust if it doesn’t go along for the ride.
Trump’s May 2017 visit to the kingdom during his first term. AFP
“Rift is too strong of a word, but frustration is bubbling,” a senior western official in the region told Middle East Eye.
Several sensitive dossiers are jostling together ahead of Trump’s visit that are irking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, analysts and diplomats say.
The most consequential file for Trump is the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, which US Vice President JD Vance said this week have been “so far, so good”.
For months, Trump has scorned Netanyahu on the talks as his closest media allies attack “Mossad agents” trying to hamstring the US leader. By his own admission, Trump even resisted Israeli pressure to launch a preemptive attack on the Islamic Republic.
American Buddhist Net 