Mid-week Briefing: Trump’s Middle East dealmaking is redrawing spheres of influence
This week, the Middle East isn’t a sideshow... it’s the main stage.
Trump’s return to Riyadh isn’t just optics. In meetings with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa (Jolani), the U.S. President has tabled five explicit demands that signal something far more ambitious than bilateral diplomacy: regional alignment.
The five demands:
Join the Abraham Accords and normalise ties with Israel.
Expel all foreign terror groups from Syrian territory.
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