What Biden and Obama never dared to do

Let’s start with the headline: Trump ended U.S. sanctions on Syria and became the first president in 25 years to meet with Syrian leadership. Not Assad, but Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Islamist rebel commander who rose to power after Assad was ousted last December.

This meeting, brokered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was more than symbolic. It was strategic. Trump didn’t just show up for the photo op—he made demands: that Syria expel terrorist groups, take responsibility for ISIS detainees, and join the Abraham Accords. In return, Syria got a shot at legitimacy and a pathway to reconstruction.

This is the art of the deal at the state level. Where Obama drew red lines and did nothing, where Biden clung to outdated sanctions and paralyzed diplomacy, Trump changed the equation. He read the new regional reality and moved. Fast. Bold. Consequential.

Critics will scream that al-Sharaa has a jihadist past—and he does. But unlike the Obama-Biden strategy of moral posturing without results, Trump’s play is simple: if you want peace, you engage power, not perfection. The result? For the first time in over a decade, Damascus is back in conversation with Washington. That’s leadership.

Meanwhile, in Riyadh, Trump and MBS announced over $600 billion in investment deals, including a record $142 billion in arms sales. But unlike Biden, who made security aid conditional on Israeli normalization, Trump scrapped the pretense. He gave the Saudis what they wanted—and in return, America got jobs, leverage, and the warmest U.S.–Saudi relations in years. No lectures. Just business.

Then came Doha. Trump was greeted with an 8-fighter-jet escort, a red carpet, and an economic firestorm: Qatar committed to a staggering $1.2 trillion in U.S. investments, including the biggest aircraft order in Boeing history—over $96 billion in planes. But that wasn’t all. The Qataris pledged sweeping capital flows into American energy infrastructure, AI and tech development, logistics, and advanced manufacturing. These weren’t symbolic gestures—they were binding commitments designed to supercharge American industry and supply chains.

The centerpiece? A newly announced U.S.–Qatar Strategic Investment Framework, under which Qatar will channel hundreds of billions of dollars through sovereign wealth entities directly into public-private partnerships across the United States. From critical infrastructure—bridges, ports, and power grids—to clean energy startups and aerospace innovation hubs, Trump didn’t just walk away with headlines—he walked away with generational capital commitments that no U.S. president before him has ever secured.

That’s not diplomacy. That’s strategic dealmaking on a global scale. No lectures. No bureaucracy. No conditions. Just results.

And yes, there was controversy. Qatar offered Trump a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jet as a gift to the U.S. government, with plans to retrofit it as a temporary Air Force One and eventually donate it to Trump’s future library. Democrats called it unconstitutional. Pundits called it corrupt. Trump called it what it was: a gift of friendship—and a better plane than the rusting relics currently flying the President of the United States. Was it messy? Sure. But name another president offered a flying palace from a Gulf state leader out of sheer admiration. You can’t.

In Ukraine, he’s laying the groundwork for ceasefire talks between Zelenskyy and Putin—with Ankara as the host and Trump himself possibly flying in to seal the deal.

In South Asia, Trump pulled India and Pakistan back from the brink of war, negotiating a full ceasefire after a terrifying four-day exchange of missiles and airstrikes.

In Yemen, his administration is working to secure the country’s fragile peace.

And in Gaza? Unlike Biden, who waffled, and Obama, who alienated allies, Trump has held the line with Israel while pushing Arab leaders toward a more pragmatic, phased peace vision.

All of this—Syria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Ukraine, India-Pakistan—has happened within 150 days of Trump’s second term.

It’s no coincidence. This entire trip was a living, breathing sequel to The Art of the Deal. Trump didn’t just walk into Riyadh, Doha, and Damascus with a team of diplomats—he walked in like a negotiator with leverage, vision, and timing. He knew what each player wanted, what they feared, and how to give just enough to get everything. This wasn’t statecraft by bureaucracy—it was dealmaking at its highest level. Obama never dared. Biden never tried. Trump turned the oldest conflicts in the world into a chessboard of opportunity, and he played it like a grandmaster. From arms deals to ceasefires, from lifting sanctions to sidestepping preconditions, every move screamed: this is what happens when you put The Art of the Deal in the Oval Office.

Foreign policy is not about virtue-signaling. It’s about securing peace, jobs, and power. Trump gets that. Obama never did. Biden still doesn’t.

This is what leadership looks like when it’s driven by instinct, results, and unapologetic strength. For all his faults—and there are many—Trump is the first American president in decades to prove that peace doesn’t have to be polite, and progress doesn’t have to wait for consensus. It takes clarity. It takes courage. And yes—it takes a dealmaker.

Love him or loathe him, history won’t forget this tour.

Because this week, Donald J. Trump didn’t just visit the Middle East.