Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman speaks with Donald Trump at the Royal Court in Riyadh, May 13, 2025 (Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
I joined Times Radio’s Trump Report on Friday for a 42-minute deep-dive analysis on how the reality TV star was manipulated this week, from the Ukraine-Russia talks to his tour of the Gulf States.
I explain to host Maddie Hale how the talks in Istanbul inevitably ran into the ground because of the Kremlin’s maximum demands to seize Ukrainian territory, keeping the country weak and demilitarized and threatening the Zelensky Government.
So as Ukraine and Europe maintain resistance to the 38 1/2-month invasion, Trump — if not some in his Administration — will lose interest unless he gets a face-to-face with Vladimir Putin.
Then I review Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE flattering Trump, giving him shiny objects — and billions of dollars into his family businesses — as they take over from the US in the Middle East.
Not all the outcomes are bad — for example, the sudden lifting of US sanctions on post-Assad Syria — but they highlight how Trump the bully is actually a grifter with an always-exploitable weakness.
