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Triumphant Trump Trooping the Troops
President Donald Trump's quick, bold moves on trade deals, hostage returns, and peace talks in the Middle East this week have even staunch Biden administration Donkeys in awe.
"Gosh, I wish I could work for an administration that could move that quickly," a Biden administration official admitted to Axios on Thursday as Trump is wrapping up day three of his tour through Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
Former Biden State Department spokesman Ned Price was willing to go on record with a caveat to those in awe: Claiming the quick, bold moves only come because Trump is unchained by political forces unlike anyone before — ostensibly admitting former President Joe Biden was beholden to Democrat influence during his administration.
"He does all this, and it's kind of silence, it's met with a shrug," Price told Axios of Trump. "He has the ability to do things politically that previous presidents did not because he has complete unquestioned authority over the Republican caucus."
While Trump says he is close to a new Iran nuclear deal, former President Barack Obama's Iran nuclear deal negotiator Rob Malley calls the move "damage."
"It's hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos," Malley said to Axios.
There are even some Biden administration goals that Trump met quickly, including the lifting of sanctions on Syria after the new leader — even if a former al-Qaida terrorist — attempts to rebuild his country.
"It's so clearly the right decision," Ben Rhodes, an Obama national security aide, told the pro-Obama "Pod Save the World" podcast this week. "I don't know why Joe Biden didn't do this.
"I don't like Trump's motivations for lots of things he does, but one thing you will say is he's not tied to this constant fear of some bad faith right-wing attacks or stupid blob-type, 'We don't do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.'"
"No! Sometimes you just have to try something different," said Rhodes.
The release of the final living American hostage held by Hamas terrorists, Edan Alexander, came through the direct talks with envoy Steve Witkoff, leading to the marveling of an unnamed Biden official.
"I suspect Witkoff doesn't have to look over his shoulder as much as others have," the official told Axios. "His predecessors have had to make sure the secretary of defense is on board, and the secretary of the Treasury is on board, and the head of the CIA is on board.
"He just does it."
Direct talks with Hamas terrorists amid a shaky relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were a bridge Biden and his officials just could not cross.
"This is not about President Biden, this is about President Trump and the advantage that he has with [Netanyahu]," Price said to Axios.
"If the Biden administration had done something like this, [Netanyahu] would have gone out guns blazing."
Trump has garnered Netanyahu's trust to work around him with Hamas because Trump has publicly supported Israel's right to defend itself to all ends in Gaza, according to a concerned Price.
"Unfortunately, we have a real-life experiment going on right now where we see exactly what happens when an administration abdicates that concerted pressure on the Israelis," Price told Axios.
