Donald Trump’s comprehensive victory in the U.S. presidential election has indisputably created a new international agenda. Trump’s Republicans now also have complete control of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Like him or hate him, he has become, unquestionably, the most powerful leader in the world. Donald Trump is returning to the White House with the promise to voters that he is a peacemaker and with a vow to end foreign wars. It is a daunting task. In the Middle East, conflict rages in Gaza and Lebanon. More than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza, in a war with Israel triggered by the cowardly Hamas terrorist attack on innocent Israeli men, women and children on October 7, 2023. The war has gone on now for more than a year and many Israeli hostages are still being held in deplorable conditions. Trump’s strong support for Israel and his open antagonism against the Iranian regime, will confront him with his first major challenge. His guarantee to continue helping Israel, stands in sharp contrast to his undertaking to end the conflict. The president-elect’s desire to “end the suffering” in Gaza and Lebanon is reinforced by the fact that his youngest daughter Tiffany is married to Michael Boulos, the son of Lebanese-American billionaire Massad Boulos, a key advisor on Arab/American relations.
It now looks like Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be appointed as Trump’s Secretary of State. Rubio is a stalwart supporter of Israel. In October 2023, he wrote on X: "Hamas is a terrorist organization created for the express & explicit purpose of driving every Jew out of the........