Parsing through Donald Trump’s Middle East agenda with Steven Cook from the Council on Foreign Relations.
US President Donald Trump and his predecessor Barack Obama want the same things in the Middle East, argues Steven Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations: “disentangling the US from its foreign adventures”.
Cook tells host Steve Clemons that Trump wants a deal with Iran, and may be pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza before his proposed trip to the Gulf region next month.
There is a “trust deficit” between Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, adds Cook, and this explains why Trump told Netanyahu to “be reasonable” regarding Syria and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
