Former top officials in the Biden administration admitted they were impressed by President Donald Trump’s bold moves this week during his historic tour in the Middle East.
Trump’s visit to the Middle East is his first major overseas trip since retaking office. The White House said he aimed to strengthen strategic partnerships in the region for stability and economic prosperity with the visit.
Trump announced on Tuesday he would be lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria, before meeting with Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa on Wednesday, becoming the first U.S. president to meet with a Syrian president in 25 years.
He also secured a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S., and agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion
“Gosh, I wish I could work for an administration that could move that quickly,” one official admitted.
“It’s hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos,” Rob Malley, former special envoy to Iran under Biden, also said.
“He does all this, and it’s kind of silence, it’s met with a shrug,” Ned Price, a former State Department spokesperson in the Biden administration, added. “He has the ability to do things politically that previous presidents did not, because he has complete unquestioned authority over the Republican caucus.”
Trump said Tuesday during a speech in Saudi Arabia that he was dropping U.S. sanctions on Syria, implemented under ousted President Bashar al-Assad, “in order to give them a chance at greatness.”
“In Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing many years. That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade,” Trump said.
Former Obama administration officials Tommy Vietor and Ben Rhodes hailed the move on their “Pod Save the World” podcast Wednesday.
“It’s a very big deal,” Vietor said. “So I think Trump deserves a lot of credit for this decision. It was politically difficult… but it’s unequivocally the right thing to do.”
“It’s so clearly the right decision,” Rhodes agreed. “I don’t know why Joe Biden didn’t do this.”
“I don’t like Trump’s motivations for lots of things he does,” Rhodes added. “But one thing you will say is he’s not tied to this constant fear of some bad-faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, ‘we don’t do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.’ No! Sometimes you just have to try something different.”
