Lavender carpets. Golden swords. Arabian horses. President Trump arrived in the Gulf to a royal welcome. Both sides seem delighted about what they’re getting out of one another. So what are they getting? And what will it mean for the future of the Middle East? We talk to Hussein Ibish, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, about this new era of chumminess between the American president and the Gulf leaders. What does it mean that President Trump has not brought up any of Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations? Is that luxury jet Qatar gifted him just norm breaking or illegal? And how might this friendship influence Trump in his dealings with Israel as its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, threatens to escalate attacks on Gaza?. -- Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You’ll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at theAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Have you been seeing the pictures of Trump on the tarmac being greeted by various royals? Yeah. I wonder if you read it this way. He seems very relaxed.
He is very relaxed. He's home. Yeah. He's come home. This is like outside the U.S. This is his favorite place.
I'm Hannah Rosen. This is Radio Atlantic. And that is Hussein Ibbish.
I'm Hussein Ibish, and I'm a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, and I write for many publications, especially The Atlantic.
This week, we're watching the president's visit to the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The pictures that we're referring to show Trump at the airport tarmac in Saudi Arabia being greeted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a royal welcome. Lavender carpets, golden swords, Arabian horses, and Trump is smiling through all of it.
This is a stark contrast to a few years ago when MBS, as bin Salman is known, was a pariah in the West for his human rights violations. So what does Donald Trump's new approach to the Gulf states mean for our Middle East policy? And why is Trump so at home there?
He lives in a world of patrons and clients. He lives in a world where Authority is not questionable. And that's very familiar. It's a very familiar space to especially the Saudi royals, but all of them. And he understands them and they understand him and he loves them and they love him. He can be himself, the unedited version. He doesn't have to check his instincts. He just go with it.
And that's kind of unusual for Trump.
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