President Donald Trump is enjoying a well-earned victory lap with his successful trip this week to the Middle East, KT McFarland, a former deputy national security adviser in his first term in office, told Newsmax on Thursday.
The travels also represent Trump's long-stated wish to work with the newer generation of leaders in those countries, McFarland said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America."
"This is the culmination of eight years of his planning," she said. "In his first term, in the first couple of days, he was faced with a choice: Who do you want to deal with in the Middle East?"
The older generation of leaders was religiously conservative, said McFarland, but the younger leaders were "the future."
"President Trump, to his enormous, undying credit, said, 'I'm going to go with the young guys. They're the future. They're going to open their society. They're going to diversify their economy.'"
That choice was a "big bet," but the results are now showing for dealing with them, said McFarland.
"The Saudi society is open," she said. "The economies are open. They had the Abraham Accords, which would not have happened otherwise. So good for President Trump. This is his victory lap, and he deserves it."
Trump's trip is also important because it shows that the United States has a strong and independent relationship with the Arab countries, said McFarland.
"Normally, a president goes to Israel and to the Arab countries," she said. "This time it's only the Arab countries. And what that shows, that's a symbol that we have an independent relationship and a strong relationship with the Arab countries alone. It's not dependent upon Israel."
Still, the United States also maintains a "great relationship" with Israel, she said, adding that "President Trump is the most pro-Israel president ever, but the fact that we can do them independently, I think, makes the whole thing much stronger in the end."
McFarland also discussed the continuing discussions with Iran, with Trump stating that the nations are near an agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
"I think what the president said was that no nuclear weapons in Iran, they've got to dismantle, they've got to disarm," she said. "That's the thing. You don't enrich it. If you want civilian nuclear energy, fine. You can bring the enriched uranium in from someplace else. But if you have the facility to make it yourself, then you can do it."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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