Middle East peace deal opens the door to Donald Trump’s vanity | Opinion

Donald Trump is a vain person who seeks outside validation and is deeply vulnerable to baseless flattery. He thinks putting lots of gold in the Oval Office makes it more awe-inspiring, as if the achievements of the people who put the president there are not enough, as visitors might misjudge American might without coating it in 24-karat leaf.

The fact that Trump spent months brazenly panting after the Nobel Peace Prize is only the most obvious evidence of these character flaws. They may be the best thing about him.

Now that Trump might actually deserve such accolades for a 20-point peace plan that has delivered on the first five points including a Gaza ceasefire and the first phase of an Israeli withdrawal days before the mutual release of hostages and prisoners, it might be smart for Democrats, our allies and those with loud opinionated voices in the media to take advantage of Trump’s vanity.

Let us teach him what praise is like when it is truly deserved. Let us teach him what it is like to be regarded as a world historic figure for positive — and presidential — reasons like making peace in the Middle East, instead of being the vanguard of plodding global authoritarianism.

There’s some signs that those with the loudest trumpets are not getting this tune. Barack Obama’s statement on the matter is a case in point:

“After two years of unimaginable loss and suffering for Israeli families and the people of Gaza, we should all be encouraged and relieved that an end to the conflict is within sight; that those hostages still being held will be reunited with their families; and that vital aid can start reaching those inside Gaza whose lives have been shattered. More than that, though, it now falls on Israelis and Palestinians, with the support of the U.S. and the entire world community, to begin the hard task of rebuilding Gaza — and to commit to a process that, by recognizing the common humanity and basic rights of both peoples, can achieve a lasting peace.”

You know what word is not in there? Trump. It is a fact that this achievement — fragile and preliminary as it is — would be nowhere without massive pressure from Trump. Without Trump’s masterful wielding of both American hard power and soft power in martialing an unprecedented international coalition for peace that was capable of pressuring a reluctant Israel, but more important a fanatical and suicidal Hamas, into getting to yes.

The truly Trumpian touch is how first son-in-law Jared Kushner’s smarmy relationships with petrodollar-rich Arab states and the Donald’s reckless disregard for democratic norms, may have been the keys to building enough trust among a coalition of Israel’s corrupt, authoritarian neighbors to make peace a reality. Turkey’s Erdogan and Egypt’s el-Sisi would fall in line only for one of their own.

If the Democrats, never-Trump Republicans, our neighbors and traditional allies avoid Obama’s partisan error and give Trump enough credit for his triumph, we may be able to do two critical things.

One, we can keep his eye on the ball in the Middle East as he seeks more praise.

The next phase of the 20-point plan is the most painful for Israel and Hamas. Israel must give amnesty to the collection of thugs, terrorists and propagandists who have spent decades plotting Jewish genocide that culminated in the war crimes of Oct. 7, 2023. Hamas must give up its power and arms, and at least some of its members must leave Gaza altogether.

To make that a reality will require more of a miracle than the ceasefire we already have in place.

Second, perhaps we can get Trump addicted to the right kind of attention. Perhaps he can turn his unique mind toward making the smart moves for a successful resolution of the Ukraine war and the longer-term Vladimir Putin problem that threatens NATO. It doesn’t have to take long to turn things around.

Longer-term, perhaps we can induce Trump to focus his unique gift for asymmetrical diplomacy on facing down China in Asia through an unprecedented combination of trade, economic and military moves that could undermine Beijing’s dangerous rise to global power.

Washington’s bipartisan consensus foreign policy has failed so far.

Maybe the prospect of ending his term as the unexpected Nobel laureate president who actually deserved his prize could turn Trump’s attention away from the destructive folly of so many of his domestic policies.

I know, that’s a big maybe, but overestimating the power of Trump’s vanity is the least of the dangers he brings to our republic.