Saturday President Donald Trump arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The visit is the first in a nine-day tour of the Middle East and Europe. Trump is the first American president to set his first international visit to a Muslim-majority country, thereby erasing any notions that he is hostile towards Muslims. Saudi Arabia reciprocated the honor by treating him as a hero. From Fox News:
Trump flew to Riyadh overnight on Air Force One. He was greeted at the airport with an elaborate ceremony, punctuated by a military flyover and a handshake from Saudi King Salman.
The jet fighters released red, blue and white smoke, in honor of the American flag. Trump descended from Air Force one on a red carpet.
Later at the royal court, the Saudi King awarded Trump the gold King Abdulaziz Medal for his contributions to peace and stability in the world, and for strengthening bilateral relations. The medal is the highest civilian honor and a recognition of the “historic and close ties between Saudi Arabia and The United States.”
Trump is popular in the Arabian Peninsula, where many are hoping for a harder line against Iran than mustered by President Barrack Obama. He is also generally viewed as a strong leader who will revive the economy.
The contrast between how allies treat him abroad and the near-civil war level of conflict in America is dumbfounding. The American media and the left are labeling Trump as incompetent and a source of chaos. Abroad he is by many seen as highly competent and a source of stability. In America, the left views him as Islamophobic and a divisor. In the Middle East, many Muslims see him as an ally and unifier. In America, many fear he will start World War III. In the Middle East, they see him as a hope for peace.
The contrast becomes even more astonishing when we compare it to how Obama was treated abroad at the end of his presidency. In China, there was no staircase or red carpet for him, and he had to exit through the back entrance. Some suggested that this was an “oversight,” but when the Chinese authorities were confronted with the meager reception, they refused to apologize. On the contrary, they doubled down in a fashion almost unheard of in international diplomacy. One Chinese official was caught on video shouting “This is our country! This is our airport!” clearly indicating that the lack of preparations was deliberate and intended as an insult.
On the same international trip, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines made outrageously hateful and rude slurs directed at Obama, which caused him to cancel his visit to the Philippines.
One has to wonder if the left is living in a parallel universe. By all objective standards, Trump is doing a good job, or at least not a bad job. He is respected and even revered abroad, and under his presidency, all economic indicators are pointing in the right direction while illegal immigration is down an estimated 70%. The left’s efforts to undermine the republic and their refusal to accept the result of the election seem to reflect a combination of a collective delusion and a totalitarian streak. Some have described their efforts to undermine the presidency as a form of soft assassination. Time will show if they succeed, but if his recent visit to Saudi Arabia is an indicator, he will weather the storm.
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