DANIEL VAUGHAN: Trump Embodies Peace Through Strenghth
The grand spectacle of Trump speaking in Israel and the hostages coming forth is a genuine historic moment. It's one of those things that will show up as one of the big moments of the Trump administration. But it also defines the foreign policy of the era in a way that is indisputable: peace through strength works.
All you have to do is compare the first year of Trump's second term with Biden's year in office. It only took a few months of Biden's presidency before the Afghanistan debacle occurred. In a few short days, Afghanistan was abandoned, Americans were dying, and the disastrous and unexplainable Biden foreign policy was set.
In that moment, America was perceived as inexplicably weak. Putin immediately escalated his moves towards the Ukraine war, and the groundwork for Hamas attacks was set against Israel. Biden's weakness ensured the United States got nothing in any situation.
In Trump's time in office, he's driven Hamas to the point of near total surrender. The Iranian regime has been totally defanged, Hezbollah destroyed, and Israeli and American influence is rapidly expanding. The Middle East is closer to a form of long-term peace than it's ever been.
We got here because Trump made demands, enforced them with real power, and the consequences have followed. With Biden, weakness begat more weakness. Under Trump, strength is creating more leverage over a region that has refused anything less than force.
The Biden administration is trying to run around and claim a part of this. But they can't do anything like that. Hamas was never seriously threatened by Biden and Harris, who spent more time lecturing Israel than dealing with a terrorist organization.
Biden sent America on misadventures like the Gaza aid pier, a debacle which couldn't even be used as a photo op for doing something. The only reason we're in this spot is because Trump worked with Israel to annihilate evil Islamic terrorist groups gripping the region.
Everything predicted by experts and the America Last crowd, which predicted any movement against Iran, Hezbollah, and the rest would risk total destruction of Israel and the United States, has proven wrong. We're not headed into World War III.
It turns out that when the world hegemon exercises its power to assert its will and backs that up with real consequences, people act. Peace through strength works.
The peace deal isn't ending there. Trump understands this, which is why his demands continue.
Hamas still hasn't returned all the bodies of the deceased hostages. Trump, naturally, sees this as a breach of his peace deal, as does Israel. That's led to the next round of threats:
Meanwhile, Donald Trump threatened to forcibly disarm Hamas if it refused to give up their weapons, as the Gaza ceasefire deal hangs by a thread.
'They will disarm - and if they don't I'm gonna make them disarm,' the president told reporters at the White House on Tuesday. 'They know what I mean.'
Trump warned that America stood ready to bring about Hamas's disarmament 'quickly and perhaps violently'.
If you're Hamas, you don't have much of a choice here. The remaining supporters of Hamas on an international level - Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey - are forcing Hamas to give up.
When Hamas gave up the remaining hostages still alive, they gave up their leverage. That's the most important part here. I understand Israel wants the bodies back. But Hamas gave up its last leverage over anyone.
If Trump is continuing to demand the total disarmament of Hamas, we're truly headed for an endgame. Hamas has lost all support; it can't run to Iran for help, and no one else is available.
Biden and Democrats paid lip service to freeing hostages and disarming Hamas. But Trump is actually doing it.
Charlamagne Tha God put it simply on his radio show, "Donald Trump shows me what's politically possible ... Trump shows me what presidents can do when they want to do it. Donald Trump shows me what can be said if you're willing to say it. It's not about what can't be done; it's about who has the political will to do it."
That's what we're witnessing now. Trump is exercising the full might of American power and flexing that strength to spread a peace policy. As a result, hostages are now free, families are reunited, and Hamas is on its last legs.
Trump is remaking the entire world. The international order is never going to be the same. The experts got everything wrong about the Middle East. Trump's strength is resulting in peace.
That is the truth of American military power. We dictate terms. Four years ago, we experienced the terror of a world where the U.S. appeared weak under Biden. Trump reversed that about as quickly as he shifted reality on the southern border.
Peace through strength works. We need to continue on this path and end Hamas as an entity altogether.