Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due at the White House on Thursday, offering President Donald Trump a friendly visitor sandwiched between two high-stakes meetings with key Arab allies about his contentious Gaza takeover plan.
America’s Arab allies are walking a tightrope with Trump as he begins his second term with an admittedly more aggressive foreign policy than during the opening weeks of his first administration. That includes his plan to “take” and “own” the strip along the Mediterranean Sea and then to “run” its cleanup and redevelopment — as well as the proposed relocation of some 1.7 million Gazans.
Trump 1.0 stumbled out of the starting gate eight years ago. When he wasn’t bickering with congressional Democratic leaders, he was clashing with his own Cabinet officials and senior White House aides — firings and departures became normal. But Trump 2.0 has fired out of the gate, with the 47th president busily signing executive orders and making bold threats almost on a daily basis, shaking up Washington and threatening to do the same to the world order.
