For months, the world’s diplomats, pundits, and protesters insisted that the only way to stop the bloodshed in Gaza was to pressure Israel, isolate it diplomatically, and force a cease-fire. They shouted “cease-fire now!” from the streets of London to the campuses of American universities, insisting that the Jewish state was the problem and that Washington should rein it in.
But as has happened so many times before, the “international community” was wrong — and Donald Trump was right.
Instead of cutting off Israel, President Trump doubled down on supporting it. He armed the Jewish state, bombed Iran’s military infrastructure, and used the full force of American leverage to pressure Qatar — Hamas’s main financial lifeline — to bring the terror group to heel. The result: a cease-fire that actually favors Israel, secures the release of all hostages, and forces Hamas into concessions no previous American administration could have imagined.
This isn’t the “peace through weakness” formula that has guided decades of failed Middle East diplomacy. It’s peace through leverage — through hard power, pressure, and persistence. In other words, it’s the Trump way.
The Cease-Fire Nobody Expected
The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas — assuming it holds — is not the sort of agreement that brings champagne corks popping at the United Nations or the State Department. The people who chanted for an “immediate cease-fire” are not celebrating because this cease-fire didn’t come from their kind of diplomacy.
It didn’t come from a roundtable in Geneva or a lecture from Brussels. It came from relentless American pressure, old-fashioned deals, and a willingness to use force when necessary. It came from Trump’s belief that the Middle East respects strength — and only strength.
Under the terms of the deal, Hamas will release all Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Israel, in turn, will halt its military operations and pull back to an agreed-upon line — though still maintaining roughly 53 percent of Gaza as a security buffer zone. That’s a far cry from the total withdrawal international critics demanded.
For Israel, this represents a major strategic win: the return of its hostages, the destruction of most of Hamas’s military infrastructure, and a continued deterrent presence inside Gaza. Even if the arrangement eventually frays — as Middle East truces often do — it buys Israel time, stability, and deterrence.
For Hamas, it’s survival — but barely. The terror group has been battered, isolated, and cut off from much of its financial backing. Iran, its chief patron, is reeling from a series of U.S. airstrikes on its missile depots and proxy bases. Qatar, long accustomed to playing both sides, suddenly faced the uncomfortable choice of losing U.S. military cooperation or curbing its Hamas funding. Under Trump’s leadership, it chose the latter.
Trump’s Unorthodox Playbook
For decades, the conventional wisdom in Washington held that diplomacy required delicacy — and that the best way to bring peace to the Middle East was to appear “even-handed.” That has meant pressuring Israel, courting Arab states, and hoping goodwill gestures would bring moderation from groups like Hamas. It has never worked.
Trump flipped that playbook upside down. He started from the belief that peace is achieved not by appeasing terrorists but by empowering America’s allies and confronting its enemies. It’s the same principle that produced the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations — something the foreign policy establishment had said was impossible without first solving the Palestinian issue.
Trump understood leverage. His instincts, honed over decades of business negotiations, taught him that power and perception go hand in hand. The person who looks desperate to make a deal is the one who loses. In this case, Trump projected the opposite of desperation: he made it clear that America would stand with Israel and that any path to peace would have to pass through Jerusalem, not through the corridors of the European Union.
He also recognized that diplomacy and deterrence are two sides of the same coin. When he ordered airstrikes on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard facilities in response to Tehran’s continued support for terror, critics called it reckless. But it sent an unmistakable message to every player in the region: there would be real costs for defying the United States. Within weeks, Iran’s proxies went quiet, and Hamas’s Qatari patrons began looking for an exit strategy.
A Deal That Works — For Now
No one should romanticize Hamas’s sudden willingness to make a deal. The organization remains what it has always been: a violent Islamist faction committed to Israel’s destruction. But even fanatics can be made to bend when their sponsors are bombed, their bank accounts are frozen, and their fighters are dying in droves. Trump’s combination of carrots and sticks — mostly sticks — created the conditions for a deal.
For Israel, the cease-fire provides breathing room. The war had become a public relations nightmare, with images from Gaza dominating global media and sparking outrage across Western capitals. Yet Israel’s core objective — dismantling Hamas’s military capacity — was achieved. The return of hostages offers closure to the families who have suffered the most, and the security buffer inside Gaza ensures that Hamas can’t simply rearm overnight.
The next phase of the agreement, still uncertain, calls for disarming what’s left of Hamas and establishing a technocratic Palestinian administration to govern Gaza. That’s the dream scenario for Israel and for ordinary Gazans desperate to escape Hamas’s iron grip. But it will be difficult to implement. Rebuilding Gaza without letting Hamas reconstitute itself will require constant vigilance — and American involvement. That’s where Trump’s transactional style again becomes an asset: he’ll demand results and accountability from everyone involved, not just photo ops.
Why the Critics Can’t Stand It
You might think the world would welcome a cease-fire that saves lives and returns hostages. But because Trump engineered it, many of his fiercest critics are silent — or even sour. For them, the cognitive dissonance is too much to bear: how can the man they’ve spent years labeling a “dangerous fascist” or “threat to democracy” be the same one who just brokered peace?
Hollywood won’t hold tributes. The Nobel Committee won’t rush to call. Yet the results speak for themselves. Trump’s foreign policy record — from the Abraham Accords to deterring Iran, to this Gaza deal — rivals or surpasses that of any modern president.
The irony is that Trump’s blunt, sometimes abrasive style is what makes his diplomacy effective. Where others see chaos, he sees opportunity. Where others talk about “confidence-building measures,” he talks about leverage. And unlike career diplomats who hide behind process, Trump is driven by outcomes.
The Method Behind the Madness
Trump’s critics often mistake his unorthodox behavior for recklessness. But his foreign policy — at least when it works — follows a clear pattern.
Project unpredictability. Everyone, from adversaries to allies, must believe Trump might actually do what he says — even if it seems extreme. That fear gives him leverage.
Use strength to make peace. Whether it’s military strikes on Iran or weapons shipments to Israel, he understands that negotiation without strength is just begging.
Seek the deal, not the doctrine. Trump isn’t beholden to theories about “balance of power” or “regional architecture.” He wants a deal that works, right now, in real terms.
Demand reciprocity. If America gives something, it must get something in return — be it a security concession, a diplomatic win, or a tangible show of respect.
It’s the art of the deal, applied to geopolitics — and for all the sneers it provokes from the foreign policy elite, it’s hard to argue with results.
The Unreasonable Man
George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
In this sense, Trump is gloriously unreasonable. He doesn’t accept the premises everyone else does. He doesn’t care what the editorial boards of The New York Times or The Guardian think. And because of that, he often achieves what they say can’t be done.
The world needs a little fear of him — and a little hope that his unpredictability can bring results. It’s that paradox that keeps adversaries cautious and allies attentive. His optimism can be misplaced, as seen in his miscalculations about Russia or North Korea. But his determination to bend reality to his will often produces breakthroughs others never even attempt.
Credit Where It’s Due
There’s an old Washington saying: “There’s no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Trump has always flipped that on its head: sometimes there’s no limit to what you can accomplish if you want all the credit. His craving for recognition drives him to do what others are too timid to try.
And if this Gaza cease-fire holds — if hostages come home, if Hamas is contained, and if Israel emerges safer — then the world will once again have to confront an uncomfortable truth: Donald Trump’s brand of brash, results-oriented diplomacy works.
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