Here is the state of the Middle East and Africa when Trump’s successor took office in 2021:
- Trump almost immediately made a deal with Putin in which the latter was given a free hand in the former Soviet Union (minus the Baltic states, although there was some ambiguity there) in exchange for assistance with the war against IS. Trump also agreed to support the Assad regime for the duration of the war. Russia and the US then turned their guns collectively on IS. The Caliphate was destroyed; however, elements of IS remain in other parts of the world.
- Naturally, one of the outcomes of the American/Russian alliance on Syria was intense Turkish and Saudi anger. Trump made it clear that his loyalty to them was purely transactional. The Saudis responded by starting to work on a nuclear weapon. As a result of all of this, Trump moved closer to Iran, notwithstanding his concerns about the nuclear agreement.
- Trump attempted to midwife a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians, but failed. Thereafter, he lost interest in the subject, which he regarded as hopeless, and essentially told the Israelis to do as they pleased.
- Trump eliminated all humanitarian and economic aid to African nations and stopped cooperating with international agencies doing humanitarian work, claiming that the US could no longer afford it. He responded to pandemics, not by providing aid, but by prohibiting travel to and from the affected nations. American prestige in Africa collapsed, with the Chinese being the principal beneficiaries.