On Tuesday’s “The Situation Room,” The New York Times columnist Tom Friedman said President Donald Trump is acting like a king, making foreign leaders bring him tribute.
Host Wolf Blitzer said, “During his visit, Prime Minister Netanyahu even announced that, which surprised a lot of us, that he would make President Trump the first non-Israeli recipient of the Israel Prize for Peace. I’m curious what you made of that moment and why it matters for the U.S. position in the Middle East.”
Friedman said, “Well, we live in an age of kings now in the United States, Wolf, where the first thing every foreign leader understands is that he must bring tribute to the king, like in medieval times. And for Bibi, getting the government to agree to give Trump the Israel Prize was his latest form of tribute. That and ten cents, though, will buy him a cup of coffee with Trump, because at the end of the day, Trump wants a Nobel Prize, not the Israel Prize. And the only way he gets the Nobel Prize is if his Gaza peace plan goes forward. The only way he gets that is if Bibi bites the bullet on the PA. And if Bibi bites the bullet on the PA, he will lose his government.”
He added, “The American strategic interest is that Israel and Saudi Arabia are able to normalize relations so that we get a giant arc of pro-American regimes and governments in the region that can put pressure on Iran. Our that alliance of Israel and Arab countries only happens if the PA, the Palestinian Authority, is brought into the peace process.”
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