How Trump “Created an Entire New Middle East,” According to Victor Davis Hanson
Victor Davis Hanson said on Newsmax Wednesday that President Donald Trump created “an entire new Middle East.”
During an appearance on “Finnerty,” Hanson said Trump broke a longstanding myth about Iran’s perceived invincibility.
“They look at Hezbollah, and they said these were goose-stopping, stepping, you know, titans, and [the] same with Hamas. Their whole fantasies have dissolved. It’s an entirely new Middle East, and it was all created by Donald Trump and in association with Bibi,” Hanson said.
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Hanson said that for decades the Middle East was defined by a set of unchallenged assumptions that Iran was untouchable, Hezbollah was a formidable force, and the U.S. had to accept countless provocations without retaliating.
“We lived for 50 years with a myth that you don’t ever talk about Iran. They’re indomitable. You can’t reply to the Americans who were killed in the barracks in 83. When they blow up an embassy, that’s just the way it is. If they kill 600 plus 1,000 in Iraq, we have to accept it,” Hanson added. “The idea that Donald Trump, in 35 minutes, went and took out their entire enrichment sites and didn’t lose anybody, and he had to ask the permission of the Israelis. The only hurdle they had was asking the Israelis if they could go into Iranian space, and they just can’t fathom, how can he do that?”
Hanson said Trump’s actions significantly undermined groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
“They have been failing, and this one guy comes out, and then, as you point out, he doesn’t go to his beach house and sit on the beach and relax and hope people praise him. He goes right over to NATO, and he says ‘When I came in, there were five countries that met the 32-country alliances of 2%,” Hanson added. “I see now there’s 23. I think we need to go up to 5%.”
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NATO members agreed to raise defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP by 2035 after Trump’s persistent pressure, marking a significant win for the alliance. Trump praised the commitment as a major victory for the U.S., Europe and Western civilization, countering past criticisms that his tough stance would weaken NATO.
Trump has consistently criticized NATO members for not meeting the 2% GDP defense spending commitment, while the U.S. bears a disproportionate share of the defense burden. In 2024, countries like Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Spain failed to meet the 2% threshold, according to the Atlantic Council.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
