LONDON: Standing ovations and scenes of jubilation are not normally witnessed at investment forums. But there was nothing normal about the speech President Donald Trump delivered at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh last week.

Speaking at the beginning of a four-day tour of the region, Trump鈥檚 geopolitical surprises came thick and fast.

鈥淎fter discussing the situation in Syria with the (Saudi) crown prince,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.鈥�

The last few words were almost drowned out by the wave of applause, which was followed by a standing ovation led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Although the announcement came as a big surprise to most, including seasoned analysts and even some in Trump鈥檚 inner circle, it was not entirely unexpected.

In December, for the first time in a decade, US officials had flown to Damascus, where they met with Ahmad Al-Sharaa, the commander of Hay鈥檃t Tahrir Al-Sham, which just two weeks earlier had led the dramatic overthrow of the Bashar Assad regime after 14 years of civil war.

As a result of that meeting, after which the US delegation said it had found Al-Sharaa to be wholly 鈥減ragmatic,鈥� the US removed the longstanding $10 million bounty on his head. A month later, Al-Sharaa was appointed president of Syria.

The day after last week鈥檚 investment forum in Riyadh, Trump sat down for a face-to-face meeting with Al-Sharaa that produced what might well prove to be one of the most historic photographs in the region鈥檚 recent history: the Saudi crown prince, flanked by Trump and Al-Sharaa, standing in front of the flags of the US, 萝莉视频, and Syria.

The photograph sent a clear message: For the US, and for a region all too often subject to the whims of its largesse and military approbation, all bets were off.

The day before, Trump had more surprises for his delighted audience at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center.

鈥淚 have never believed in having permanent enemies,鈥� the president said, and 鈥淚 am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be very profound, which obviously they are in the case of Iran.鈥�

He praised local leadership for 鈥渢ranscending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past鈥� and criticized 鈥淲estern interventionists 鈥� giving you lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs.鈥�

In a message that will have echoed loudly in Kabul, Baghdad, and even Tehran, he added: 鈥淚n the end, the so-called 鈥榥ation-builders鈥� wrecked far more nations than they built 鈥� and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves.鈥�

Responding to Trump鈥檚 announcements, Sir John Jenkins, a seasoned diplomat who served as British ambassador to 萝莉视频, Iraq, and Syria, and as consul-general in Jerusalem, told Arab News: 鈥淚 think this could be a real turning point.

鈥淧ost-Arab Spring demographics 鈥� lots of young people wanting a better life and better governance but not wanting to get there through ideology or revolution 鈥� and Mohammed bin Salman, Trump, and Syria have all come together at a singular time.鈥�

Trump鈥檚 speech last week in Riyadh, he said, 鈥渨as extraordinary, an intellectually coherent argument, and he means it.

鈥淚f you can form a cohesive bloc of Sunni states 鈥� the Kingdom of 萝莉视频, the rest of the GCC, Jordan, Syria and Egypt 鈥� which all aim in different ways to increase prosperity and stability instead of the opposite, then you potentially have a bloc that can manage regional stability and contain Iran in a way we haven鈥檛 had for decades. And that gives the US the ability to pivot.鈥�

But a lot could still go wrong. 鈥淚ran, which is already trying hard to undermine Syria, will continue to play games,鈥� said Jenkins.

鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 Israel itself: Does it want strong and stable Sunni neighbors or not? It should do, but I鈥檓 not sure Bezalel Smotrich (Israel鈥檚 far-right finance minister, who this month vowed that Gaza would be 鈥榚ntirely destroyed鈥�) and Itamar Ben-Gvir (the minister of national security who is pressing for Israel to seize and occupy Gaza) think so. That鈥檚 a headache for Israel鈥檚 Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu.

鈥淏ut if you hook all this up to a possible US-Iran deal, which will give Iran incentives not to have sanctions come crashing back down, then there鈥檚 something there.鈥�

For Al-Sharaa, even six months ago, the dramatic turnaround in his personal circumstances would have seemed fantastic, and as such is symptomatic of the tectonic upheavals presaged by Trump鈥檚 visit to the region.

Almost exactly 12 years ago, on May 16, 2013, the then-leader of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, judged responsible for 鈥渕ultiple suicide attacks throughout Syria鈥� targeting the Assad regime, had been designated as a terrorist by the US Department of State.

Now, as the very public beneficiary of the praise and support of Trump and the Saudi crown prince, Al-Sharaa鈥檚 metamorphosis into the symbol of hope for the Syrian people is emblematic of America鈥檚 dramatic new approach to the region.

In Doha, the president chose the occasion of a visit to a US military base to make nice with Iran, a country whose negotiators have been quietly meeting in Oman with Steve Witkoff, Trump鈥檚 special envoy, to discuss a nuclear deal.

鈥淚 want them to succeed,鈥� said Trump, who in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the US from the original deal, fashioned by President Barack Obama and European allies, and reimposed economic sanctions. Now, he said in Doha last week, 鈥淚 want them to end up being a great country.鈥�

Iran, he added, 鈥渃annot have a nuclear weapon.鈥� But, in a snub to Israel, which has reportedly not only sought US permission to attack Iranian enrichment facilities, but has even asked America to take part, he added: 鈥淲e are not going to make any nuclear dust in Iran. I think we鈥檙e getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this.鈥�

In fact, Trump鈥檚 entire trip appeared to be designed as a snub to Israel, which did not feature on the itinerary.

A week ahead of the trip, Trump had announced a unilateral ceasefire deal with the Houthis in Yemen, who had sided with Hamas after Israel mounted its retaliatory war in Gaza in October 2023.

Under the deal, brokered by Oman and with no Israeli involvement, the US said it would halt its strikes in Yemen in exchange for the Houthis agreeing to stop targeting vessels in the Red Sea.

On May 12, the day before Trump arrived in 萝莉视频, Hamas released Edan Alexander, the last surviving US citizen held hostage in Gaza, in a deal that came out of direct talks with no Israeli involvement.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump celebrated 鈥渁 step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators 鈥� Qatar and Egypt 鈥� to put an end to this very brutal war.鈥�

Trump, said Ahron Bregman, a former Israeli soldier and a senior teaching fellow in King鈥檚 College London鈥檚 Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, 鈥渢hrew Netanyahu, in fact Israel, under the bus.

鈥淗e totally surprised Netanyahu with a series of Middle Eastern diplomatic initiatives, which, at least from an Israeli perspective, hurt 鈥� indeed, humiliate 鈥� Israel,鈥� he told Arab News.

鈥淚n the past, if one wished to get access to the White House, a good way to do so was to turn to Israel, asking them to open doors in Washington. Not any longer. Netanyahu, hurt and humiliated by Trump, seems to have lost his magic touch.

鈥淭rump despises losers, and he probably regards Netanyahu as a loser, given the Gaza mess and Netanyahu鈥檚 failure to achieve Israel鈥檚 declared aims.鈥�

It is, Bregman said, Trump鈥檚 famously transactional approach to politics that is shifting the dial so dramatically in the Middle East.

鈥淭rump looks at international relations and diplomacy through financial lenses, as business enterprises. For Trump, money talks and the money is not to be found in Israel, which sucks $3 billion dollars a year from the US, but in the Gulf states.

鈥淭rump is serious about America First, and Israel doesn鈥檛 serve this aim; the Gulf states do. For now, at least, the center of gravity has moved to the Gulf states, and the Israeli status in the Middle East has weakened dramatically.鈥�

For Ibrahim Al-Marashi, associate professor at California State University, San Marcos, the events of the past week stand in sharp contrast to those during Trump鈥檚 first presidency.

鈥淒uring the first Trump administration, World War Three almost broke out, with aircraft carriers from my native San Diego deployed continuously to the Gulf to deter Iran, the (Houthi) strike on Saudi Aramco, and the assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad at the beginning of 2020,鈥� he told Arab News.

鈥淔ive years later, the Trump administration seems to be repeating the Nixon-Kissinger realist doctrine: 鈥楢merica has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.鈥� In that regard, his administration might forge relations with Iran as Nixon did with China.鈥�

Kelly Petillo, program manager for the Middle East and North Africa at the European Council on Foreign Relations, likewise views last week鈥檚 events as the beginning of 鈥渁 new phase of US-Gulf relations.鈥�

Among the remarkable developments is 鈥淚srael鈥檚 relative sidelining and the fact that Israel does not have the privileged relationship with Trump it thought it had,鈥� she told Arab News. 鈥淭he US agenda now is wider than unconditional support to Israel, and alignment with GCC partners is also key.

鈥溌芾蚴悠�, Qatar, and the UAE have clearly become of key strategic importance to the US, with new deals on the horizon and the promise of expanding these relations. The announcements of more commercial ties have been accompanied with political declarations too, which overall represented positive developments for the region.鈥�

Ultimately, said Caroline Rose, a director at the New Lines Institute, 鈥淭rump鈥檚 visit to the GCC highlighted two of his foreign policy priorities in the Middle East.

鈥淔irstly, he sought to obtain a series of transactional, bilateral cooperation agreements in sectors such as defense, investment and trade,鈥� she told Arab News.

鈥淭he second objective was to use the trip as a mechanism that could change conditions for ongoing diplomatic negotiations directly with Iran, between Hamas and Israel, and even Ukraine and Russia.鈥�

It was, of course, no accident that Trump chose the Middle East as the destination for the first formal overseas trip of his second presidency.

鈥淭he Trump administration sought to court Gulf states closely to signal to other partners in the region, such as Israel, as well as the EU, that it can develop alternative partnerships to achieve what it wants in peace negotiations.鈥�

Although a strategy to move forward with specific peace negotiations was 鈥渘otably absent during his trip,鈥� it was clear that 鈥渢his trip was designed to lay the groundwork for potential momentum and to change some of the power dynamics with traditional US partners abroad, sowing the seeds of goodwill that could alter negotiations in the Trump administration鈥檚 favor.鈥�