‘Something much bigger’: Trump plans major Middle East reset after Iran war

Donald Trump is working on what he has privately described as “something much bigger” for the Middle East after the war with Iran, according to Axios, which cited two US officials and other sources.

The initiative forms part of a broader strategy being developed by the Trump administration for the period after the conflict and the final two years of Trump’s second term. Its stated aims include containing Tehran’s regional influence and expanding efforts to normalize relations between Israel and its neighbors.

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Something much bigger

Officials said Trump held two meetings with senior advisers in recent weeks to discuss the plan and raise ideas. Work is taking place both among the administration’s senior political leadership and across government agencies. A source briefed on the process said the strategy could take “another few weeks” to finalize.

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Another few weeks

Three possible elements have been proposed. The first would build an alliance among US allies in the Gulf to contain Iran, with Washington acting as guarantor. The second would seek to bring the regional fallout from the October 7, 2023 attacks closer to a conclusion by advancing the next phase of Trump’s Gaza plan, reaching a security agreement between Israel and Syria, and implementing the Israel-Lebanon agreement. The third would broaden the Abraham Accords and pursue normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

The planning could be affected by Israel’s Knesset election in October and US midterm elections in November. Officials view the Israeli vote as the more significant factor, particularly because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently projected to lose. Some US officials nevertheless said Trump would pursue the strategy regardless of the result, even if the election produced a political stalemate. The source briefed on the process cautioned that the concept remained unfinished: “They are cooking it, but it is not yet cooked.”

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They are cooking it, but it is not yet cooked. The idea is to tie a whole lot of things in the region together, how you create a regional alignment after the war. It is still unclear if all US allies in the region will be on board.