October 10, 2025 | The National Interest
Why Donald Trump’s Diplomacy Appears to be Working
President Trump’s signature transactionalism and emphasis on personal relationships with foreign leaders are helping not hindering US foreign policy.
October 10, 2025 | The National Interest
Why Donald Trump’s Diplomacy Appears to be Working
President Trump’s signature transactionalism and emphasis on personal relationships with foreign leaders are helping not hindering US foreign policy.
Excerpt
President Donald Trump’s push for a peace deal in Gaza appeared to pay off in the late hours of October 8 as Israel and Hamas indicated they had agreed to the first phase of a deal. Trump has been pushing for peace in Gaza since a ceasefire deal was secured before he took office in January. However, the push for peace has still taken time. There may be lessons to be learned from what appeared to work in late September and early October.
The White House has focused throughout 2025 on ending the war in Gaza and bringing home the hostages that Hamas holds in Gaza. Towards that end, it played a key role in a ceasefire from January through March. When the ceasefire broke down, US envoy Steve Witkoff attempted to revive it, and the Trump administration secured the release of the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, in May.
In July, Trump again pushed for peace and continued to try to revive efforts for a Gaza deal in late August and then in September. What has brought success in October is the ability to bring together Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, and the United States in Egypt for discussions with Hamas. There may be a lesson in this for the Trump administration’s search for a global doctrine. It brings together US partners and allies with Trump’s personal approach.
During his first term in office and the first ten months of his second term, Trump developed a distinctive approach to foreign policy. This doctrine is not always clearly articulated, but it has several unique elements. One of the main themes is a desire to end conflicts abroad and avoid entangling the US in further conflicts.
Seth Frantzman is the author of Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machines, Artificial Intelligence and the Battle for the Future (Bombardier 2021) and an adjunct fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He is the acting news editor and senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post. Seth has researched and covered conflict and developments in the Middle East since 2005 with a focus on the war on ISIS, Iranian proxies, and Israeli defense policy. He covers Israeli defense industry developments for Breaking Defense and previously was Defense News’ correspondent in Israel. Follow him on X: @sfrantzman.