Quotes
It feels like Trump is being played by some of these leaders with the ostentatious, ceremonial pomp,
said Brett Bruen, a former foreign policy adviser to Democratic President Barack Obama and president of the Global Situation Room consultancy
A lot of this raises questions whether Trump is taking personal prizes or really advancing U.S interests in the region,
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Countries in the Middle East are 'pulling out all the stops' because America is strong again,
said Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesman
I like him a lot. I like him too much,
Trump said of bin Salman, without mentioning the leader's alleged role in ordering the murder of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.Oh, what I do for the crown prince!"
the president gushed to the crowd at the investment conference in Riyadh where he announced the decisionThey played their hand well,
Laura Blumenfield, Middle East analyst at John Hopkins University's School of International Studies in Washington said of the Gulf state leadersHe [Trump] cannot just declare it, you have to go through a specific process which involves barriers in the Administration. You have the Secretary of State, the Treasury, Congress,
Feve tells TIME
They have a proposal, but more importantly, they know that they have to move quickly, or something bad, something bad’s gonna happen.”
Talking to reporters on Air Force One, he saidI want to make a deal,
Trump said Wednesday during the GCC SummitWhy would we buy influence in the United States? If you look at the last 10 years of the U.S.-Qatar relationship, Qatar has always been there for the U.S. when it's needed... We believe this friendship needs to be mutually-beneficial for both countries. It cannot be a one-way relationship.”
When asked whether this was an instance of “buying influence” with the U.S., the Qatari leader saidSomebody’s going to be taking the credit for this. You remember, press, this guy did it,
Trump told reporters during the flight home on Air Force OneIt’s still under legal review. I don’t know why it became so big as news… We have done a lot together with the U.S.,
he saidQatar is not, in my opinion, a great ally. I mean, they support Hamas. So, what I'm worried about is the safety of the president,
Scott told reporters on Tuesday
I'm just thinking, we have a president of the United States doing the selling,
Trump said, taking a swipe at former President Joe Biden
This time around, Trump is looking for a historic breakthrough with Iran on the nuclear talks and also dreams of getting a Nobel Prize if he gets that Iran deal or expands the Abraham Accords to include a Saudi-Israeli normalization accord,
Katulis saidUnexpected surprises and events have a way of knocking U.S. administrations off balance,
Katulis said
We have to meet. He and I will meet. I think we'll solve it, or maybe not."
On Friday, asked about future opportunities for face-to-face diplomacy between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump respondedThe key thing to watch is what comes next in the region and what big steps his administration takes,
said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East InstituteI didn't think it was possible for him to go if I didn't go,
Trump said, notingSaudi may not have gotten their formalized security agreement, but there was a lot of talk around it… So this may have been, rather than the culmination of the process, the continuation of the conversation,
Esfandiary said