Trump’s Transactionalism Creates Narrow Opening For Palestinians – OpEd |
By Hady Amr
With talk that US President Donald Trump is set to launch the Gaza “Board of Peace” imminently, and names on the Gaza technocratic committee becoming public, this is an important moment to consider what Americans, Palestinians and key players in the region can do to improve both the catastrophic situation on the ground and the medium-term prospects for progress toward freedom, security and prosperity for all.
The devastation in Gaza and the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians, combined with the erosion of Palestinian political legitimacy, have reinforced a belief on all sides that US-Palestinian diplomacy has little constructive role left to play. Beyond the immense human toll, Gaza’s destruction has hollowed out Palestinian institutions, deepened fragmentation and reduced international engagement to crisis management.
Yet a paradox is emerging. Trump’s unconventional, transactional approach to the Middle East, often dismissed as chaotic or indifferent to long-term outcomes, has created a narrow but real opening for renewed US-Palestinian engagement around a pragmatic agenda. Whether this opening leads to progress or closes quickly will depend less on lofty principles and more on political agility, credible proposals, regional alignment and overdue Palestinian political renewal, all under the hard constraint of Israeli politics.
Trump’s foreign policy is neither ideological nor institutional. It is centralized, personality-driven and oriented toward visible, near-term wins. Traditional diplomatic reference points like the Oslo Accords, UN resolutions or even two-state parameters carry little weight unless they serve immediate political or strategic utility. Decision-making is concentrated among a small circle and shaped by domestic incentives and legacy considerations rather than process. This generates unpredictability but it also creates openings. Actors able to move quickly, speak Trump’s language and offer concrete, outcome-oriented proposals can shape policy in ways that would be........