The Reason Why Trump Is Succeeding In The Middle East And Not Russia
Is that Arabs love his brand-transactional style
Donald Trump is not ideological. He is not natively opposed to Islam, or Arabs, or the Middle East anymore than he was ever really a Mussolini fascist or an admirer of Hitler’s program or a Manchurian candidate, per his most deranged critics. Trump is in fact brand-transactional: he loves gold decorations almost as much as the Arab potentates do. He would love a Trump Tower Dubai. He has praised the new Disney theme park licensing deal in the Emirates. Trump loves power, and wealth, and glamor, and investment. It does not matter whether the profits are real, or a desert mirage. He is still the man who made the most of himself on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous four decades ago.
In the above photo, he is grinning ear to ear while standing between Ahmad Hussein al-Sharaa aka Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the new strongman in Syria, and King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the strongman of Saudi Arabia since 2015. Trump loves strongmen. He does not like war, does not want to own any wars, but he is eager to put his name on peace agreements with strongmen. That is totally on-brand for Trump, formerly the star of his own reality show in which contestants competed at branding. Arabs love Trump. Even Arabs who hate America love Trump. His transactionalism, his brand, are exactly what they love about him.
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