WASHINGTON ¨C U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s effort to bar citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries has provided, up until now, the main barometer of how his administration is viewed in the Islamic world. But Trump¡¯s decision to fire 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base, in response to the latest chemical weapons attack by President Bashar Assad¡¯s forces, is likely to provide another ¡ª perhaps more revealing ¡ª indication of who stands where.
To former U.S. government officials and many Muslims, Trump¡¯s proposed travel ban represents a betrayal of liberal values and offers a recruiting gift to extremists. But, among Washington¡¯s oldest allies in the Middle East ¡ª those with the most to gain from a partisan president leaning their way ¡ª the response has largely been silence. After eight years of being told what to do by the White House, Trump is seen as a welcome ¡ª if potentially unsettling ¡ª change of pace.
Saudi Arabia may be the Trump administration¡¯s greatest (albeit silent) cheerleader. The Saudis were never comfortable with President Barack Obama¡¯s overtures to Iran, and were particularly startled when he told The Atlantic magazine that the Iranians and Saudis ¡°need to find an effective way to share the neighborhood and institute some sort of cold peace.¡± The Saudis, bogged down in a proxy war with Iran in neighboring Yemen, are elated that Trump is contemplating an increase in assistance to repel Iranian encroachment from their strategic backyard.
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