Trump urged to stay the course on aid to the Middle East
The president-elect is under pressure to rethink some of his nationalist campaign rhetoric.
Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to solve problems at home and stop frittering away taxpayers’ money abroad.
Less than a week after his stunning victory, a number of Arab leaders have delicately begun to urge the president-elect and his transition team not to leave them in the lurch. They warn that aid-dependent countries throughout the region are still recuperating from the Arab Spring upheaval while fending off terrorism and chaos — all to America’s long-term benefit.
The outreach can be seen in a congratulatory cable from Jordanian King Abdullah, who looks forward to many more years of “cooperation between the two countries,” in media outreach from the US representative of the American Chamber of Commerce for Egypt, and yet again by the Tunisian ambassador’s participation Nov. 17 in a panel discussion on “Supporting Tunisia: A priority for the next administration?”
“Of course every country right now wants to position itself before the Republicans and, especially, the new Trump team,” Tunisian Ambassador Faysal Gouia told Al-Monitor. “That’s why CSID [Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy] is holding a conference on the topic.”
