By Athena Papakosta

The election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States also casts its shadow on the Summit in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, where the leaders of Arab and Muslim countries discussed the situation in the Middle East.

In contrast to European leaders who are concerned because of the unpredictability of the newly elected American president, the Arab states of the Gulf tend to see him more as a force of stability for the region.

During his first term as president, Donald Trump cultivated personal relationships with the leaders of Arab countries. It offered strong defense support to their countries and, at the same time, avoided criticizing them for their repeated human rights abuses.

In the new Trump era, Arab states expect the new American leadership to help end the ongoing war in the Middle East. But they would also like the United States to increase its economic support to the region.

In 2017, Donald Trump chose Riyadh for his first visit as president of the United States abroad, and to this day his relations with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman remain warm.

As an example, it is worth focusing on the fact that, about two weeks before the American elections, the then presidential candidate Trump gave an interview to the Arab television network Al-Arabiya and called the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia a “friend” and a “visionary”. while Mohammed bin Salman was one of the first foreign leaders to call the new president of the United States on the phone to congratulate him on his victory.

At the same time, however, it cannot be ignored that during his first term, Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, upsetting the Arab world and satisfying Tel Aviv. At the same time, he managed to get two Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, to sign the Abraham Accords, without satisfying their longstanding demand for recognition of the Palestinian state, thus opening diplomatic relations with Israel.

For many, today, Trump’s return to the White House will give Israel more freedom of movement – ​​even to strike Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities. However, Netanyahu may be stressing that Israel got “the best friend it ever had in the White House”, but in the region some – important – things have changed.

In Trump’s absence from the Oval Office, in addition to the war that has broken out in the region, Saudi Arabia and Iran have put aside their “eternal” differences and indeed after the mediation of China, the great competitor of the United States.

Last Sunday, the chief of the general staff of the Saudi Arabian armed forces visited the Iranian capital to meet with his Iranian counterpart with the aim of deepening the cooperation of the two countries in the fields of defense and security. At the same time, yesterday, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, described Iran as a “sister Republic” and called on Israel to respect its territorial sovereignty and refrain from any attack on Iranian soil.

How will Donald Trump handle the Riyadh-Tehran rapprochement while the chess game in the Middle East is still being played? Will he succeed in expanding the “Covenants of Abraham”? Or will he end up without his king?