What Would a Second Trump Administration Mean for the Middle East?

A second Trump administration would likely focus more on confronting Iran and broadening Israeli -Arab diplomatic normalization than on resolving the Israeli -Palestinian conflict.

Trump has boasted that he is “the best friend that Israel has ever had,” on the stump.

On some issues, the former president has views that can be documented back to the 1980s , but the Mideast conflict is not one of them.

John Avlon : A second Trump administration would have a strategy for the Mideast that doesn't focus on the Israeli -Palestinian conflict.

He says it may be because Trump 's posture toward Israel is driven more by self-interest than anything else.

Trump and his advisers don't necessarily believe that a two -state solution to the conflict is a cornerstone of regional security, he says.

John Avlon : For Trump , the lure of a big deal is the lure to striking an agreement with Iran .

Trump 's hard-line stance on Iran was the signature element of his administration’s Middle East record, he says.

But even after all of that, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in September , Trump expressed openness to striking a new nuclear agreement with Tehran .