Trump administration develops post-war Middle East strategy focused on Iran and Israel, report says

The Trump administration is working on what the president has privately described as “something much bigger” for the Middle East after the war with Iran, according to an Axios report.

The strategy remains in its early stages. Two US officials and other sources familiar with the discussions told Axios that senior administration officials and agencies across the government are working on it. Trump has held at least two meetings with senior advisers where ideas for the plan were discussed.

Sources described three possible pillars. One would seek stronger alignment among US allies in the Middle East around US-backed efforts to contain Iran after the war. The proposals also include a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement and an expansion of the Abraham Accords.

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something much bigger

Another element could address the regional fallout from Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war. Axios reported that this could involve efforts to secure the next phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, establish a security agreement between Israel and Syria, and implement Israel-Lebanon agreements aimed at combating Hezbollah.

The plan is not yet complete. One source briefed on its development said the administration is “cooking it, but it is not yet cooked,” and that a fuller strategy could take weeks to draft. The source described the broader goal as tying regional issues together and creating alignment after the war.

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cooking it, but it is not yet cooked