Does Trump understand anything at all about international law? Does he really understand anything about the Middle East?
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It’s the gorilla joke and Trump not only doesn’t get it but it no longer applies to him. Where does a 600 pound gorilla sit in the room? Answer, wherever it f—– wants. Trump’s upgraded latest version of bullying, threatening and making everything about him, is still not working on the international stage. We are so used to this style of his threatening before even talks have got under way, which is supposed to soften up his victims but for Trump to do this to both leaders of Egypt and Jordan is extraordinary. To both these countries, Trump said he might have to consider cutting the aid that the U.S. sends them which prompted Sisi in Egypt to cancel his White House visit; King Abdullah did in fact turn up but looked visibly shaken at the press conference when Trump continued to talk about the real estate option of Gaza, involving the dumping of the Gazans on neighbouring countries and now letting them back.
Trump’s style of course often gets him into trouble. He has no interest whatsoever using his own diplomatic channels, or indeed the State Department, to prepare world leaders for his whacky ideas. When Netanyahu was standing at the podium a week earlier during the press conference it was obvious that the idea of ‘taking Gaza’ was something that just entered his head, probably that day. Netanyahu looked like he was in a trance.
Because Trump has no patience for reading briefs or listening to advisers these situations are likely to occur often. A totally moronic idea, which has no chance of working logistically or legally, will dominate a bigger subject, in this case Gaza. Is this Trump’s ruse? Is he planning on giving the nudge on Saturday afternoon – 15th February – for Netanyahu to bomb the Gazans with even more ferocity than previous? Many analysts now are espousing that the Palestinians are being led into a trap with the final negotiations being dogged by their complaint that the deal can’t be a deal if there is no ceasefire. 92 Gazans dead during the ceasefire based on attacks by Israel would suggest that the Israelis have no intention of holding it. For the Palestinians to appear to play around would just be what Trump and Netanyahu would want.
Yet the interesting thing is the release of Palestinians who are all being sent to Gaza, regardless of whether they came from the strip or not. Clearly the deal the Israelis struck included slaughtering them after a few days when they enjoy a certain liberty, albeit in a place they’re not familiar with and is essentially a pile of rubble with some aid trucks turning up every now and again.
The bigger plan for Gaza is to continue with the ethnic cleansing. Meanwhile, the whole world stays confused about how serious Trump’s plan is to “buy” Gaza, which was later corrected to just “take” it. Does Trump understand anything at all about international law? Does he really understand anything about the Middle East?
It’s not important. What is important is that Trump can only operate on a very simple level and he must be the one who comes up with the plan. His buffoonish ideas catch Arab Leaders off-balance as they all line up to now to block his Gaza idea and call for a two-state solution. What no call centre journalist in the White House scrum was able to ask though, when having the opportunity with King Abdullah present, was what could be the implications to both Egypt and Jordan having their aid cut? King Abdullah hinted very graciously that it would not be in America’s interest to go ahead with the outlandish plan. But what did he mean?
In a nutshell, Trump’s plan to dump the Palestinians in Egypt and Jordan cannot work not because those leaders have blocked it and have even gone as far as to threaten war. It can’t work because Trump doesn’t even understand the regional politics – bringing half a million Palestinians into Jordan might be the end of King Abdullah’s reign – but more importantly Israel would lose Jordan as a security partner. It beggars belief that no one in Trump’s team understands this and didn’t mention it to the Donald. Only last year when Iran was firing rockets deep into Israel, it was the air force of Jordan which was up in the air shooting them down. Is Israel going to throw away that kind of partner over a row over a trifling about of 1.5 billion USD of aid each year to Amman? Trump 2.0 is more about projecting his own unique ideas out there and using less and less the experts, replaced by nodding dogs. We should expect more of this as, for Trump, it’s a winning formula as it keeps the media contact permanent while he continues to keep on the front pages to the follow up explanation to the initial idiotic idea. And then the follow up to that. Our journalists in the West now are so young, stupid and servile that they don’t even know they’re being Trumped, although have a heart for the poor darling with the Huffington Post who Trump told “you don’t even know what you’re talking about” whilst having a huddle n cuddle moment on Air Force One. Just when you think Trump has run out of material to use in his act, he simply turns to ridiculing the rodents who follow him around and stenograph his comments, who probably think they are real journalists.
The point about the whacky Gaza real estate plan is that it is just a figment of distraction while the adults take over and work out what the real hard work is. But Trump’s idea of even moving the Palestinians to Saudi Arabia, to outwit Sisi and Abdullah II, was genius. MBS did not see that coming. Trump is still the 600-pound gorilla looking where to put himself in the room. And the Arabs will just have to put up with his quirkiness as the idea of them getting organized and taking the lead is about as likely as the Huffpost kid becoming a journalist when he grows up.
