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The Mideast Is Baffled by Trump’s 'Bizarre' Call to Expand Abraham Accords
image: President Trump with leaders from Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates
at the signing of the Abraham Accords in Washington in 2020.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
The president said more countries should be required to recognize Israel as part of a deal to end the war with Iran. Analysts say the chances of that happening are close to zero.
The social media post by President Trump made it sound straightforward. The United States would orchestrate a deal to end the war with Iran and, in exchange, a slew of countries across the Middle East and South Asia would join an agreement, called the Abraham Accords, establishing relations with Israel.
In fact, he said, that “should be mandatory.” But half of the countries he named — such as Egypt, Jordan and Turkey — already have relations with Israel. And the other half — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan — have no interest in establishing them anytime soon.
As a result, the meandering ultimatum that Mr. Trump shared on Monday was met with a mix of silence and bemusement across the Middle East. Regional analysts said they were not even sure that they understood the rationale behind his proposal. Why would ending the war, which the United States and Israel initiated by bombing Iran on Feb. 28, provide an incentive to recognize Israel for countries like Qatar, which had lobbied desperately to prevent the war in the first place?
“It’s just bizarre,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel. “What’s the connection between a deal with Iran and that? I’m honestly puzzled.”
One search turns up "Donald Trump’s foreign policy—characterized by the "America First" agenda—is widely described as unpredictable and unconventional, often shifting between isolationist, expansionist, and aggressively interventionist approaches. Observers often attribute this unusual strategy to his use of the "madman theory" and highly transactional diplomacy."
We also have April 29, 2026 - The Trump Era Trump’s Impulsive Foreign Policy Is Tearing Apart the Global Order
Historian Daniel Immerwahr examines the president’s “hit-and-run” foreign policy and what he calls the “doom spiral of Trumpism.”
At one event during the 2016 GOP Presidential Primaries (back in December 2015), GOP candidate, former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush called Trump a chaos candidate who would become a chaos president. Some people, but many MAGA, which was then the GOP fringes of the GOP mocked Jeb Bush for that now we know -- very clear-eyed observation.
Trump not only became a chaos President, he became this - how the world views Trump and now the USA:
Two Western diplomats in the region said that no one was really taking the idea seriously. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.
Asked to explain the connection between peace negotiations with Iran and expanding the Abraham Accords, a White House spokeswoman did not answer directly. Instead, she referred to remarks made by Mr. Trump on Wednesday, when he suggested that U.S. agreement on a deal with Iran could be made contingent upon countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar agreeing to recognize Israel.
“I think those countries owe it to us,” he said. “I’m not sure we should make the deal, if they don’t sign.”
The Saudi and Qatari governments did not respond to requests for comment.
.
image: President Trump with leaders from Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates
at the signing of the Abraham Accords in Washington in 2020.Credit...Doug Mills/The New York Times
The president said more countries should be required to recognize Israel as part of a deal to end the war with Iran. Analysts say the chances of that happening are close to zero.
The social media post by President Trump made it sound straightforward. The United States would orchestrate a deal to end the war with Iran and, in exchange, a slew of countries across the Middle East and South Asia would join an agreement, called the Abraham Accords, establishing relations with Israel.
In fact, he said, that “should be mandatory.” But half of the countries he named — such as Egypt, Jordan and Turkey — already have relations with Israel. And the other half — including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan — have no interest in establishing them anytime soon.
As a result, the meandering ultimatum that Mr. Trump shared on Monday was met with a mix of silence and bemusement across the Middle East. Regional analysts said they were not even sure that they understood the rationale behind his proposal. Why would ending the war, which the United States and Israel initiated by bombing Iran on Feb. 28, provide an incentive to recognize Israel for countries like Qatar, which had lobbied desperately to prevent the war in the first place?
“It’s just bizarre,” said Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel. “What’s the connection between a deal with Iran and that? I’m honestly puzzled.”
One search turns up "Donald Trump’s foreign policy—characterized by the "America First" agenda—is widely described as unpredictable and unconventional, often shifting between isolationist, expansionist, and aggressively interventionist approaches. Observers often attribute this unusual strategy to his use of the "madman theory" and highly transactional diplomacy."
We also have April 29, 2026 - The Trump Era Trump’s Impulsive Foreign Policy Is Tearing Apart the Global Order
Historian Daniel Immerwahr examines the president’s “hit-and-run” foreign policy and what he calls the “doom spiral of Trumpism.”
At one event during the 2016 GOP Presidential Primaries (back in December 2015), GOP candidate, former Governor of Florida Jeb Bush called Trump a chaos candidate who would become a chaos president. Some people, but many MAGA, which was then the GOP fringes of the GOP mocked Jeb Bush for that now we know -- very clear-eyed observation.
Jeb Bush on Donald Trump: He's a 'Chaos Candidate' and He’d Be a 'Chaos President'
Jeb Bush takes on Donald Trump during the last GOP debate of 2015.Trump not only became a chaos President, he became this - how the world views Trump and now the USA:
Two Western diplomats in the region said that no one was really taking the idea seriously. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.
Asked to explain the connection between peace negotiations with Iran and expanding the Abraham Accords, a White House spokeswoman did not answer directly. Instead, she referred to remarks made by Mr. Trump on Wednesday, when he suggested that U.S. agreement on a deal with Iran could be made contingent upon countries such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar agreeing to recognize Israel.
“I think those countries owe it to us,” he said. “I’m not sure we should make the deal, if they don’t sign.”
The Saudi and Qatari governments did not respond to requests for comment.
.
