Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States at a public ceremony held at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on Friday. The ceremony marked the commencement of a four-year term for the president.
Writing in the London-based pan-Arab newspaper Al Hayat, columnist Walid Choucair commented that Mr Trump’s presidency marked a new era of uncertainty as his political vision is ambiguous and unsteady.
“This adds to the confusion as people try to analyse the outcome of Mr Trump’s leadership of the world’s most powerful country,” Choucair noted.
The writer also talked about the influence of the Trump presidency on Arabs and the Middle East. He expected the new president not to differ much from his predecessor who turned his back on the interests of Arab people and nations.
According to Choucair, Mr Trump is following in the footsteps of Barack Obama – “albeit in a blunt manner, away from the sophisticated discourse of his predecessor”.
Some Arabs may be hoping that Mr Trump’s aspirations to be firm with Iran, but lenient with Russia, will strengthen his country’s relations with Arab allies.
They are counting on weakening Tehran’s role for the benefit of Moscow, as per the US-Russian agreement, the writer said. But, he said, they might be in for a disappointment as Mr Trump’s grasp of foreign affairs is far from Russia’s president Vladimir Putin’s manipulative and pragmatic methods used on Mr Obama.
According to Arabic-language commentator Farouq Yousef, Arabs can only welcome Mr Trump as president of a country that is supposed to be their strategic ally, although it is Israel’s ally as well.
“Arabs have finally grasped the secrets behind this mixed up and unfair equation,” Yousef wrote in the pan-Arab newspaper, Al Arab.
He said that Arabs had hoped for neutrality on part of the US in the Arab-Israeli conflict, as taking their side would have been impossible.
“Arabs have given up on the possibility of the United States doing them justice in the Palestinian cause. However, they still hold out a faint hope that Mr Trump will reconsider the ambiguous US-Iranian relationship that weakens their position vis-a-vis Iran’s plans targeting the stability of their countries.
“They are counting on Mr Trump being more attentive to the Middle East than his predecessor, who they think had turned his back on them,” Yousef noted.
But a look at American politics shows that the country does not need to satisfy Arabs. “The new president will not serve their interests, not because he will deal with them as a businessman, but because he will ignore them in a manner that will leave them baffled and bemoaning their fate. That might even force them to make unnecessary concessions.”
The writer said that no American president can befriend Arabs, because such a thing goes against their job description.
He added that with Mr Trump as president, Arabs are neither winners nor losers. Their situation would have been similar had someone else been elected, unless that person was willing to reconsider the political philosophy that does not attach any weight to their independent will in standing up to others.
“Arabs should accept this equation, and should not expect an American president to do them justice. Instead, what they need to do is take care of themselves,” he concluded.
*Translated by Jennifer Attieh
translation@thenational.ae