Trump has more work to do to realize his Nobel quest
Here we attempt to sort it all out, with a region-by-region breakdown of where Trump actually moved the needle on global peace and where he didn’t.
Let’s begin with Israel, where Trump scored his clearest and most significant foreign policy victory. His approach was simple: Support America’s closest ally in the region with unapologetic strength. No “daylight,” no winks to Tehran, no pressure to “make concessions.” The result? The Abraham Accords (peace agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan, and Kosovo) were signed without once having to negotiate with Hamas or hand over land. This wasn’t just peace through strength. It was peace through confidence. The road to peace took a detour around Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. And it worked.
Contrast that with Ukraine, where Trump’s instincts were sharp but his policies scattered. He was the first US president to send lethal aid to Ukraine, but he also sent mixed signals. Praising Putin while pressuring NATO allies for more defense spending made sense in part, but his overall policy lacked coherence. When Russia finally invaded, Trump was out of office. But the deterrence he might have built never fully materialized.
Trump’s second-term approach to Ukraine is clear: less funding for Kyiv, more pressure on Europe, and repeated nudges toward a negotiated settlement. It appeals to his base, but doesn’t yet qualify as a path to peace.
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