How did Donald Trump succeed in the Middle East when all his predecessors have failed?

Since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has broken or rejected every rule, every norm, every preconceived notion, and every naysayer who said he would never in a million years manage to broker a ceasefire, peace deal, and hostage release in the Israel-Hamas (Iran) war.

It’s a good thing he did. 

The norms weren’t working — for anyone. The rules were working in favor of violent terrorists. And the preconceived notions about Palestine and peace in the Middle East were wrong.

The naysayers were wrong, too.

Donald Trump did the exact opposite of the Obama/Biden/Harris administrations in the Middle East. And it worked. Why?

The hostages are home. A peace deal unprecedented in scope, with regional support unlike anything anyone has been able to achieve in the Middle East — probably ever — has been completed. A ceasefire, as tenuous as any ceasefire ever is, is in place.

Trump is getting plenty of credit from conservatives — and he deserves it.

“I’m proud of our President,” confessed Scott Jennings on CNN.

“Trump bringing peace to the Middle East is the real prize,” agreed the New York Post’s Michael Goodwin on October 11, 2025.

But even Trump’s most vociferous critics couldn’t find anything nasty to say about him.

Some media progressives have even begun asking themselves the hardest question of all: Why didn’t Democratic Party presidents achieve this miracle?

“Why do you think that this was not doable when President Biden was in office?” ventured Abby Phillip on CNN last week.

“I think the biggest problem that President Biden had is there was no pressure from Qatar, from Turkey, from Egypt,” put in Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) hopefully. “They were actually facilitating in many ways what was going on. And that is really ultimately how it all came together.”

“So, I mean, but the — but I think by saying that, it’s sort of an acknowledgment Trump has changed that dynamic,” Phillip admitted.

“I don’t know how he — you know?” began Rep. Goldman before changing track. “And I think there’s a lot that remains to learn about what prompted that change. But I do agree, yes, somehow, some way that changed. What also changed is that there was a humanitarian aid blockade under Trump’s administration, which Biden never allowed to happen, and that really set Israel back significantly.”

President Trump himself had plenty to say to the Israeli Knesset last week about why his predecessors failed.

“Nobody asked Joe Biden to come up and speak, I guarantee you that,” President Trump told the jubilent crowd. “If he did, he would have turned them down, I promise you. He didn’t speak. He didn’t speak, and he didn’t speak well.”

“But all of the countries in the Middle East — it could have — what we’re doing now, it could have happened a long time ago, but it was strangled and set back almost irretrievably by the administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” Trump declared. “There was — there was a hatred towards Israel. There was an absolute hatred.”

“Setbacks really started when President Obama signed the Iran nuclear deal,” Trump said. “This was a disaster for Israel, and it was a disaster for everyone. And I remember that Bibi Netanyahu came to the United States and worked so hard to try and get Obama not to do that deal. He worked so hard, but it was like talking to a wall. I remember him telling me it was like talking to a wall. They wanted to go with Iran. They chose Iran, frankly, over a lot of other good nations — specifically Israel. And that was the beginning of a very bad period of time.”

“You had Obama go out, and the Iran nuclear deal turned out to be a disaster,” Trump added. “By the way, I terminated the Iran nuclear deal, and I was very proud to do it.”

“Even to Iran, whose regime inflicted so much death on the Middle East, the hand of friendship and cooperation is open,” Trump offered magnanimously. “I’m telling you, they want to make a deal. That’s all I do in my life — I make deals. I’m good at it. I have always been good at it. And I know what they want. Even if they said, ‘We don’t want to make a deal,’ I can tell you they want to make a deal. They do. They want to make a deal, and we will see if we can do something.”

Building on the momentum from his Middle East peace success, President Trump has now turned his attention — and his administration’s team of crack diplomats — to mediating an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Can he do it?

Trump’s many critics in the media may say no. But underestimating Donald Trump is their great Achilles Heel.

President Trump keeps proving them wrong. Can he keep it up?

(Contributing writer, Brooke Bell)