Trump’s efforts to strengthen US hegemony in the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA) were a major part of his foreign policy between 2017 and
2021. Here's a quick breakdown of how he tried to do it:
Maximum
Pressure on Iran
Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) and re-imposed
heavy sanctions on Iran. The goal was to weaken Iran economically and
politically, cutting its influence across Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen —
areas where Iran was building a lot of regional clout.
Strengthening
Ties with Traditional Allies
Trump doubled down on relationships with countries like Saudi Arabia, Israel,
and the UAE. His administration sold billions of dollars in arms to Saudi
Arabia and the UAE and strongly supported Israel's position on issues like
Jerusalem. He went to the extent of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Abraham
Accords
This was one of the biggest moves, brokering normalization agreements between
Israel and several Arab countries (UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco). These
deals were meant to realign regional dynamics, isolate Iran further, and show
that US-brokered deals could reshape alliances.
Troop
Realignment
While Trump talked a lot about "ending endless wars," he didn’t fully
withdraw US military presence from the region. Instead, he shifted troops
around. He reduced forces in Iraq and Syria but sent more to Saudi Arabia after
the 2019 attacks on its oil facilities.
Economic
Leverage
Trump used sanctions and financial pressure as weapons — not just against Iran,
but also on groups like Hezbollah and even countries like Turkey when
disagreements happened.
Counterterrorism
Operations
His administration continued (and sometimes escalated) drone strikes and Special
Forces raids against ISIS and al-Qaeda targets, claiming to keep US
"dominance" over counterterrorism in MENA.
In short, Trump tried to reassert US dominance not by large
new military invasions but through economic warfare, diplomacy favoring allies,
selective military moves, and isolating adversaries. It was more of
transactional and short-term approach to strengthen US hegemony rather than a
big ideological one.
