Andreas Kluth, Columnist

‘Peace Through Strength’ Isn’t Going Well in the Mideast

In the Middle East as in the world, President Donald Trump is about to discover that his simple solutions die in complexity.

May 7, 2025 at 9:00 AM UTC

By Andreas Kluth

Andreas Kluth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US diplomacy, national security and geopolitics. Previously, he was editor-in-chief of Handelsblatt Global and a writer for the Economist.

Indulging him. — Indulging him.
Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

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According to Donald Trump, nothing terrible would have happened in the Middle East (or anywhere) during the past four years if only he had still been the 45th president in that time. And as the 47th president, he kept claiming for a while, he’ll bring “peace through strength” to that region and to Ukraine and other global hotspots. How’s that going?

Trump seemed off to a good start. In the previous administration’s waning days, his special envoy to the region, Steve Witkoff, helped to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a deal that had long eluded Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor and bugbear. That provisional truce was meant to lead to a more permanent solution. But in March Israel started bombing the Gaza Strip again. So: no ceasefire, no solution, no peace.