Latest news with #peacemaker
Times of Oman
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
"Iran wants to speak to us, not Europe": US President Trump
Washington, DC: US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed a European diplomatic initiative aimed at de-escalating the conflict between Israel and Iran, asserting that Tehran prefers direct talks with Washington instead of engaging with European powers, CNN reported. "Iran didn't want to speak to Europe, they want to speak to us," Trump told reporters, expressing scepticism over Europe's ability to mediate in the conflict. He also acknowledged the limited influence the US has over Israel's military campaign, stating, "Israel is doing well in terms of war, and I think you would have to say Iran is doing less well. It's a little hard to get someone to stop." As the Israel-Iran war entered its eighth consecutive day with both sides exchanging missile attacks, foreign ministers from Britain, France, and Germany held a three-hour meeting with Iranian officials in Geneva. The talks ended without any breakthrough, with European leaders urging continued diplomacy to prevent wider regional escalation, CNN reported. Despite stepping back earlier from threats of a US military strike and creating a two-week window for negotiations, Trump reiterated his intention to act as a "peacemaker." However, he maintained that only direct talks between the US and Iran could lead to a resolution. "Europe is not going to be able to help," he said. European officials encouraged Iran to return to nuclear negotiations with the US, but Iran's top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, refused, saying diplomacy would only resume "once the aggressor was held accountable for the crimes committed," CNN reported. On Friday, Iran launched a barrage of missiles targeting several Israeli cities, including Haifa and Beersheba. Earlier in the day, a missile damaged multiple buildings in Beersheba, including a medical center that had already been largely evacuated. Later, one of about 35 missiles struck an abandoned building in downtown Haifa, causing heavy damage to nearby structures, including a mosque. In response to the Iranian attacks, Israel announced that it had carried out retaliatory strikes on missile factories and a research facility linked to Iran's nuclear program, further escalating the hostilities. Amid the rising violence, President Trump signaled reluctance to pressure Israel into halting its offensive on Iran during ongoing diplomatic efforts. When asked whether the United States would request Israel to pause its strikes, Trump told reporters traveling with him to New Jersey, "It's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we're ready, willing and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump vowed to be a 'peacemaker' but foreign conflicts only ramping up on his watch
President Donald Trump, in January's inaugural address, predicted his "proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier." Six months into his second term, conflicts are raging on three fronts around the world. Iran and Israel are trading strikes amid fears of an all-out war in which the U.S. could become involved. Russia carried out one of its deadliest attacks on Ukraine's capital in months overnight earlier this week. In Gaza, people are struggling to find food and dozens have been killed in recent incidents near aid locations. "He's clearly not a peacemaker, but he's not a warmaker, either," Aaron David Miller, a State Department diplomat in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations -- now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace -- told ABC News. MORE: Trump on his 'unconditional surrender' demand to Iran: 'I've had it' Trump vowed speedy ends to the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, two conflicts that broke out in the previous administration that Trump has labeled "Biden's wars." On the campaign trail, he often railed against "endless wars" and mused that he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours -- a comment that once in office he walked back as an "exaggeration." "He has made comments on all of them that this could be done quickly or easily and that there are solutions to these three problems," Miller said. "And yet, he has not been successful in even identifying what I would consider to be a potentially effective strategy for managing or let alone resolving them. And therein lies the challenge." While Trump has made new diplomatic efforts a priority amid his flurry of initiatives during his first months, he's expressed increasing frustration with the foreign leaders involved and continually condemns what he calls "the death" the conflicts have wrought. "He has followed through on his promises to try," said Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations who worked as special representative for Iran and Venezuela in Trump's first administration. "He has tried in Ukraine and he has tried in Gaza and he's tried in Iran, and none of them has worked out." One claim of success on the foreign policy front that Trump frequently makes, and says he can replicate by pushing trade deals, is how he says he stopped the recent fighting between India and Pakistan. Trump's claimed he hasn't received enough credit: "I got it stopped. I don't think I had one story." Trump departed a Group of Seven summit early, citing tensions in the Middle East and ordering his national security team to huddle in the Situation Room upon his return to Washington. He's received a range of options, including using U.S. military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump didn't rule out the possibility, telling reporters on Wednesday: "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do." The president's messaging on the conflict has been mixed. MORE: Diplomatic breakthrough or military action? Trump's choice on Iran: ANALYSIS Trump had publicly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any strikes could derail talks between the U.S. and Iran on a nuclear deal. But after Israel's attacks last Friday on Tehran, Trump seemed to change his tune, telling ABC News they were "excellent" and saying they could drive Tehran to the negotiating table. In the last few days, he's floated sending Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to speak with the Iranians while also demanding Iran's "unconditional surrender." Officials have said the U.S. has not been involved in Israel's offensive, while Trump claimed "we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran." "His words and deeds are chaotic and inconsistent," Miller said of Trump. "And the notion that he's unpredictable and that helps him certainly hasn't proven to be the case so far in these three conflicts." The White House and Vice President Vance have defended Trump's position on Iran, saying he's long been clear and consistent that the nation can't have a nuclear weapon. Abrams concedes Trump's messaging might be "confusing" but is representative of a rapidly changing situation on the ground in Tehran. "One thing he's trying to make clear to the Ayatollah is that if he attacks American ships from bases he's done, that's the end of the regime. That is something any president should do," Abrams said. As the administration ramps up its focus on Israel and Iran, other areas are at a standstill. "On Gaza, no one has come up with a workable plan," Abrams said. "It's a wicked problem. [Joe] Biden didn't come up with a plan in his 15 months after October 7 and Trump hasn't come up with a workable one." An initial three-phrase peace deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza, which was brokered by members of both the Biden and Trump administrations, collapsed in March. Since then, proposals for a temporary ceasefire have fallen through. In Eastern Europe, Trump took a different approach than his predecessor in engaging with both the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, often saying his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin would produce results. Some progress appeared to be made when Russian and Ukrainian officials held their first face-to-face meeting since the invasion began back in mid-May. But talks have since stalled, with the Trump administration taking a step back while Ukraine and Russia have been intensifying attacks in recent weeks. "The president did a lot of huffing and puffing on the need for peace, but he hasn't been prepared to really push Putin in that direction," said Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who served as the State Department's ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union. MORE: Trump attacks Putin over Ukraine onslaught but will he impose consequences? William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine during the Obama administration currently serving as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Putin is not going to be swayed diplomatically. "Putin is going to be swayed by a combination of military and economic pressure," Taylor said. "So President Trump should do that." No new commitments have been made for U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine and no new sanctions have been placed on Russia, however, and there are now reports that the Trump administration disbanded a group focused on pressuring Russia. "For someone who claims to have mastered the art of the deal, this is a pretty spectacular failure," Sestanovich said of Trump's approach to the Russia-Ukraine war so far. Anna Kelly, White House Deputy press secretary, responded to the criticism, saying in a statement, 'President Trump is leading the world in ending this brutal war, which he inherited from his incompetent predecessor Joe Biden. No one cares about the opinions of armchair quarterback 'experts' who have done nothing to make the world safer.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump vowed to be a 'peacemaker' but foreign conflicts only ramping up on his watch
President Donald Trump, in January's inaugural address, predicted his "proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and a unifier." Six months into his second term, conflicts are raging on three fronts around the world. Iran and Israel are trading strikes amid fears of an all-out war in which the U.S. could become involved. Russia carried out one of its deadliest attacks on Ukraine's capital in months overnight earlier this week. In Gaza, people are struggling to find food and dozens have been killed in recent incidents near aid locations. "He's clearly not a peacemaker, but he's not a warmaker, either," Aaron David Miller, a State Department diplomat in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations -- now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace -- told ABC News. MORE: Trump on his 'unconditional surrender' demand to Iran: 'I've had it' Trump vowed speedy ends to the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, two conflicts that broke out in the previous administration that Trump has labeled "Biden's wars." On the campaign trail, he often railed against "endless wars" and mused that he could resolve the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours -- a comment that once in office he walked back as an "exaggeration." "He has made comments on all of them that this could be done quickly or easily and that there are solutions to these three problems," Miller said. "And yet, he has not been successful in even identifying what I would consider to be a potentially effective strategy for managing or let alone resolving them. And therein lies the challenge." While Trump has made new diplomatic efforts a priority amid his flurry of initiatives during his first months, he's expressed increasing frustration with the foreign leaders involved and continually condemns what he calls "the death" the conflicts have wrought. "He has followed through on his promises to try," said Elliott Abrams, a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations who worked as special representative for Iran and Venezuela in Trump's first administration. "He has tried in Ukraine and he has tried in Gaza and he's tried in Iran, and none of them has worked out." One claim of success on the foreign policy front that Trump frequently makes, and says he can replicate by pushing trade deals, is how he says he stopped the recent fighting between India and Pakistan. Trump's claimed he hasn't received enough credit: "I got it stopped. I don't think I had one story." Trump departed a Group of Seven summit early, citing tensions in the Middle East and ordering his national security team to huddle in the Situation Room upon his return to Washington. He's received a range of options, including using U.S. military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump didn't rule out the possibility, telling reporters on Wednesday: "I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do." The president's messaging on the conflict has been mixed. MORE: Diplomatic breakthrough or military action? Trump's choice on Iran: ANALYSIS Trump had publicly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu any strikes could derail talks between the U.S. and Iran on a nuclear deal. But after Israel's attacks last Friday on Tehran, Trump seemed to change his tune, telling ABC News they were "excellent" and saying they could drive Tehran to the negotiating table. In the last few days, he's floated sending Vice President JD Vance and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to speak with the Iranians while also demanding Iran's "unconditional surrender." Officials have said the U.S. has not been involved in Israel's offensive, while Trump claimed "we now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran." "His words and deeds are chaotic and inconsistent," Miller said of Trump. "And the notion that he's unpredictable and that helps him certainly hasn't proven to be the case so far in these three conflicts." The White House and Vice President Vance have defended Trump's position on Iran, saying he's long been clear and consistent that the nation can't have a nuclear weapon. Abrams concedes Trump's messaging might be "confusing" but is representative of a rapidly changing situation on the ground in Tehran. "One thing he's trying to make clear to the Ayatollah is that if he attacks American ships from bases he's done, that's the end of the regime. That is something any president should do," Abrams said. As the administration ramps up its focus on Israel and Iran, other areas are at a standstill. "On Gaza, no one has come up with a workable plan," Abrams said. "It's a wicked problem. [Joe] Biden didn't come up with a plan in his 15 months after October 7 and Trump hasn't come up with a workable one." An initial three-phrase peace deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza, which was brokered by members of both the Biden and Trump administrations, collapsed in March. Since then, proposals for a temporary ceasefire have fallen through. In Eastern Europe, Trump took a different approach than his predecessor in engaging with both the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, often saying his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin would produce results. Some progress appeared to be made when Russian and Ukrainian officials held their first face-to-face meeting since the invasion began back in mid-May. But talks have since stalled, with the Trump administration taking a step back while Ukraine and Russia have been intensifying attacks in recent weeks. "The president did a lot of huffing and puffing on the need for peace, but he hasn't been prepared to really push Putin in that direction," said Stephen Sestanovich, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who served as the State Department's ambassador-at-large for the former Soviet Union. MORE: Trump attacks Putin over Ukraine onslaught but will he impose consequences? William Taylor, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine during the Obama administration currently serving as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Putin is not going to be swayed diplomatically. "Putin is going to be swayed by a combination of military and economic pressure," Taylor said. "So President Trump should do that." No new commitments have been made for U.S. arms deliveries to Ukraine and no new sanctions have been placed on Russia, however, and there are now reports that the Trump administration disbanded a group focused on pressuring Russia. "For someone who claims to have mastered the art of the deal, this is a pretty spectacular failure," Sestanovich said of Trump's approach to the Russia-Ukraine war so far. Anna Kelly, White House Deputy press secretary, responded to the criticism, saying in a statement, 'President Trump is leading the world in ending this brutal war, which he inherited from his incompetent predecessor Joe Biden. No one cares about the opinions of armchair quarterback 'experts' who have done nothing to make the world safer.'
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, Trump's ‘peacemaker' promise collapses
In his inaugural address this January, Donald Trump declared that his proudest legacy would be that of 'a peacemaker and unifier', pledging that US power would 'stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable'. Five months later, his second presidency is witnessing the spectacular unraveling of that lofty aspiration. A president who vowed to end global conflicts – including one which he said he would resolve within his first 24 hours – has instead presided over their escalation – most recently the spiraling conflict between Israel and Iran. Related: Donald Trump is losing control of American foreign policy | Christopher S Chivvis The timeline of the latest conflict resuggests a stark disconnect between Trump's aspirations and reality: the wave of Israeli airstrikes came just hours afterTrump urged Israel not to attack Iran. Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary of state, took pains to describe the Israeli attack as 'unilateral', stressing that the US was 'not involved in strikes against Iran' – only for Trump to then insist he had been well informed of Israel's plans – and warn that further attacks would be 'even more brutal'. Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has emerged as Trump's primary diplomatic negotiator in the Middle East and Ukraine, still reportedly plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran's nuclear program, but it appeared unlikely the Iranians would attend. Trump's muddled peace agenda was already disarray long before Thursday's attacks. The Gaza ceasefire his administration helped broker collapsed within weeks, with Israel resuming massive bombardments and imposing a three-month total blockade on humanitarian aid to the territory, where the death toll has now surpassed at least 55,000. In Ukraine – a conflict Trump once bragged he would end on his first day back in office – Russian forces have pressed ahead with a summer offensive, entering the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in three years and accumulating more forces – evidence that Putin has no interest in Trump's peace overtures and intends to expand the war further. Meanwhile, Trump's abrupt announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan was met with fury in New Delhi, where officials denied his claims of brokering the deal. And while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged to Congress that the Pentagon has developed contingency plans to seize Greenland and Panama militarily, it's unclear how territorial conquest fits into Trump's definition of peacemaking. His first term ended no wars, nearly sparked conflict with Iran, and saw his signature 'peace' achievement – the Abraham accords – normalize relations between Israel and countries that weren't fighting it anyway. Part of Trump's appeal to voters was precisely a promise to avoid foreign entanglements. In the stands at the inauguration viewing party, supporters told the Guardian how they valued his restraint in military deployment and favored his America-first approach that prioritized domestic concerns over international aid and intervention. And there is a an argument that for Trump peace is not an absence of conflict but rather Washington's distance from it. There is one potentially optimistic interpretation for the latest strikes in Iran. Alex Vatanka, the Iran director from the Middle East Institute in Washington, suggested that Israel's attack could be a calculated gamble to shock Iran into serious negotiations. The theory holds that Israel convinced Trump to allow limited strikes that would pressure Tehran without triggering regime change, essentially using military action to restart stalled diplomacy. On Friday Trump suggested that the strike on Iran might have even improved the chances of a nuclear agreement. 'This is not likely to bring Iran back to the negotiating table,' said Andrew Borene, executive director of global security at Flashpoint and a former staff officer at the US's office of the director of national intelligence. 'It marks the opening of yet another rapidly expanding flashpoint within the global context of a new hybrid cold war, one that will be fought both on the ground and in the darkest corners of the web.' Whether this strategy succeeds depends entirely on Iran's response. The regime could either return to negotiations chastened, or abandon diplomacy altogether and pursue nuclear weapons more aggressively. Early indicators suggest Tehran may not be in a conciliatory mood after having its facilities bombed and leaders killed. But even if the more optimistic readings prove correct, it does not change the broader reality: every major conflict Trump inherited or promised to resolve has intensified on his watch. Trump promised to be a peacemaker. Instead, he's managing multiple wars while his diplomatic initiatives collapse in real time. From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, the world appears more volatile and dangerous than when he took his oath five months ago.
The Guardian
14-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, Trump's ‘peacemaker' promise collapses
In his inaugural address this January, Donald Trump declared that his proudest legacy would be that of 'a peacemaker and unifier', pledging that US power would 'stop all wars and bring a new spirit of unity to a world that has been angry, violent, and totally unpredictable'. Five months later, his second presidency is witnessing the spectacular unraveling of that lofty aspiration. A president who vowed to end global conflicts – including one which he said he would resolve within his first 24 hours – has instead presided over their escalation – most recently the spiraling conflict between Israel and Iran. The timeline of the latest conflict resuggests a stark disconnect between Trump's aspirations and reality: the wave of Israeli airstrikes came just hours afterTrump urged Israel not to attack Iran. Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary of state, took pains to describe the Israeli attack as 'unilateral', stressing that the US was 'not involved in strikes against Iran' – only for Trump to then insist he had been well informed of Israel's plans – and warn that further attacks would be 'even more brutal'. Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who has emerged as Trump's primary diplomatic negotiator in the Middle East and Ukraine, still reportedly plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran's nuclear program, but it appeared unlikely the Iranians would attend. Trump's muddled peace agenda was already disarray long before Thursday's attacks. The Gaza ceasefire his administration helped broker collapsed within weeks, with Israel resuming massive bombardments and imposing a three-month total blockade on humanitarian aid to the territory, where the death toll has now surpassed at least 55,000. In Ukraine – a conflict Trump once bragged he would end on his first day back in office – Russian forces have pressed ahead with a summer offensive, entering the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time in three years and accumulating more forces – evidence that Putin has no interest in Trump's peace overtures and intends to expand the war further. Meanwhile, Trump's abrupt announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan was met with fury in New Delhi, where officials denied his claims of brokering the deal. And while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged to Congress that the Pentagon has developed contingency plans to seize Greenland and Panama militarily, it's unclear how territorial conquest fits into Trump's definition of peacemaking. His first term ended no wars, nearly sparked conflict with Iran, and saw his signature 'peace' achievement – the Abraham accords – normalize relations between Israel and countries that weren't fighting it anyway. Part of Trump's appeal to voters was precisely a promise to avoid foreign entanglements. In the stands at the inauguration viewing party, supporters told the Guardian how they valued his restraint in military deployment and favored his America-first approach that prioritized domestic concerns over international aid and intervention. And there is a an argument that for Trump peace is not an absence of conflict but rather Washington's distance from it. There is one potentially optimistic interpretation for the latest strikes in Iran. Alex Vatanka, the Iran director from the Middle East Institute in Washington, suggested that Israel's attack could be a calculated gamble to shock Iran into serious negotiations. The theory holds that Israel convinced Trump to allow limited strikes that would pressure Tehran without triggering regime change, essentially using military action to restart stalled diplomacy. On Friday Trump suggested that the strike on Iran might have even improved the chances of a nuclear agreement. 'This is not likely to bring Iran back to the negotiating table,' said Andrew Borene, executive director of global security at Flashpoint and a former staff officer at the US's office of the director of national intelligence. 'It marks the opening of yet another rapidly expanding flashpoint within the global context of a new hybrid cold war, one that will be fought both on the ground and in the darkest corners of the web.' Whether this strategy succeeds depends entirely on Iran's response. The regime could either return to negotiations chastened, or abandon diplomacy altogether and pursue nuclear weapons more aggressively. Early indicators suggest Tehran may not be in a conciliatory mood after having its facilities bombed and leaders killed. But even if the more optimistic readings prove correct, it does not change the broader reality: every major conflict Trump inherited or promised to resolve has intensified on his watch. Trump promised to be a peacemaker. Instead, he's managing multiple wars while his diplomatic initiatives collapse in real time. From Gaza to Ukraine to Iran, the world appears more volatile and dangerous than when he took his oath five months ago.
