May 7, 2025, 9:09 am
In the first 100 days of his second term, Donald Trump is flouting one military or diplomatic precedent after another, cosying up to Moscow on Ukraine and taking a hard line with former allies, especially in Europe. Trump has reversed his position on Iran and agreed to negotiate on ending its nuclear program – after in 2018 withdrawing the US from the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by Barak Obama.
Two weeks after returning to office Trump suggested a US takeover of Gaza, proposing a kind of Gaz-a-Lago, with little practical follow through about whether Gazans would be forcibly evicted or how he planned to remove Hamas. Still, many credit Trump with bringing the two sides to the table for the second Gaza ceasefire in February, leading to the release of 38 Israeli (and Thai) nationals held hostage by Hamas and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Washington is now negotiating direct with Hamas without an Israeli presence – to Israel’s chagrin.
Trump and Netanyahu are similar in many ways. Both are populists who seek to be strongmen. But is there a warning for Israel in Washington’s abandonment of Ukraine at the instant it suited Donald Trump?
Content Creator – Australian Institute of International Affairs
