What are Trump's Options?
Arguably, President Trump should be winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his amazing efforts to get large sections of the Arab world to normalize relations with Israel. But that is never going to happen.
Morocco follows Bahrain, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates in setting aside generations of hostilities toward the Jewish state, part of a major foreign policy effort of the Trump administration. New York Times
European and American elites despise him for this. They did not want peace in the Mideast. They wanted Israel to be dismembered.
And just how was this done?
It was effected by moving the U.S. embassy to Israel in 2017, in spite of every “expert” and Cassandra warning him of doom to come. The Arab street would rise up. The Muslim world would start a world war.
Well, the Arabs didn’t rise up. In defying the experts -- who refuse to acknowledge Trump’s success -- President Trump succeeded in bringing peace to a region that has defied all remedies. And, soon afterwards, other nations followed the U.S. lead, and moved their embassies to Jerusalem.
For decades, presidents -- both Republican and Democrat -- had regularly failed to show such resolve, preferring instead to claim exemptions from the 1995 Jerusalem Embassy Act. Then the Trump administration doubled down on UNWRA’s support of the Palestinian Authority. Again, the world did not come to an end, but rather seems to have prospered by his efforts. Instead, we are told how awful his presidency was, by a media that refuses to recognize that Trump has brought a large degree of peace to a Mideast that no one else has been able to quiet before.
Trump has his problems to be sure; but the Democrats want blood, and there is talk of retributive prosecution, once he is out of office.
Indeed, there is already some wrangling from the elites who want to keep President Trump from retiring to Florida.
[I]n 1993, when Mr Trump was granted permission to turn the mansion into a members’ club, he reportedly signed an agreement with the Palm Beach town council that he would not use it as a private residence. According to the agreement, he can spend a maximum of 21 days there a year, and no more than seven days at a time. -- The Australian
Given the present ugliness, that agreement may be invoked, and President Trump could be in a pickle.
Most of the world’s elite urban centers are full of residents who hate Trump: New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Paris, Los Angeles, etc. So Trump may be cut off from his natural preference for being at the center of things.
However, there is one place in the world where Trump is truly beloved, even if it isn’t his native New York City… Israel! And there is one place in Israel that is a center for world culture, influence, action, events, the party life: Tel Aviv!
Trump should announce that, given the recent upswing in the Mideast, Israel would be a good place to build a Trump Tower. He should retire to Israel to oversee construction of:
Trump Tower -- Tel Aviv
A world class hotel in the start-up nation
And this is no mere imagination on my part.
Trump had considered building a Trump Tower in Israel in the past, situated at Ramat Gan -- an outer suburb of Tel Aviv -- as this 2016 article in Ha’aretz explains.
The Republican front-runner has looked at this and that deal, which were trumpeted up and down the land but no, he hasn't built the tallest tower in Tel Aviv. -- Ha’aretz 2016
The plans came to nothing, unfortunately. Now would be the time for President Trump to reconsider, since Israel is in a more secure position than in 2016.
And, let’s be honest, the Israeli government would bend over backwards to help President Trump, inasmuch as Trump has been the most pro-Israel politician in American history. Should the specter of criminal prosecution surface, Israel would probably give President Trump asylum until the brewing storm dissipated.
And that tempest might only be for two years at the most. There is the very real possibility that Biden/Harris will so screw things up that the Republican party will win a major comeback in the 2022 elections. Fresh air will return to American politics, the ridiculous prosecutions will be sidelined, and President Trump can return in triumph. Still smug as ever, well-tanned, and better fed.
In fact, Trump could also make sure that he maintains his Florida residency, so he can run for a congressional seat in 2022. Of course, the Democrats will howl about Trump being in Israel; but if they do so, American Jews (many of whom are leftist) will start to break away from the Democratic Party.
American Republicans are already anticipating retributory Democratic-led prosecutions of the Trumps and the Kushners and will see it as no less than a purge. Many Republicans will not mind if Trump weathers the storm in Israel. Most American Evangelicals will probably consider it a wise move.
Trump could also become a spokesperson for the International Christian Embassy in Israel. Should he care to, Trump would have no problem finding Protestant congregations in Israel.
And what about the Kushners?
Jared and Ivanka (a convert) Kushner are Jewish. Spending two years in Israel would be perfect for them and their family.
And here is where Trump could show some acumen. Jaffa (Yafo) has been absorbed into Tel Aviv. It was formerly an Arab town (which still has an Arab community), and a lot of Jaffa is relatively underdeveloped. Anytime anybody tries to make a change, howls of anti-Arabism are leveled.
But President Trump has already demonstrated an ability to ignore such nay-sayers.
Jaffa (Yafo) is becoming trendy. Israelis love the old Arabic construction.
Jaffa, the age-old Abbott to youthful Tel Aviv’s Costello, is an ancient port in the midst of a luxury renaissance. This 3,000-year-old harbor is a labyrinth of white stone alleys, hushed mosques and markets brimming with antiques and spices.
…It was absorbed into greater Tel Aviv in 1950 and has long been seen as the humbler, more downtrodden section of the city. Not so anymore: Historical Jaffa, it’s fair to say, has gone full-throttle luxe. -- New York Times
A look at this empty lot on Google on Yordei-ha-Yam Street, in Bat Yam, on the border of Tel Aviv/Yaffo -- and in the Tel Aviv district -- should clearly show just what is available. All right, it won’t have a golf course, but it would be only 9 km from the center of Tel Aviv.
Of course, that is just one possibility; but the Tel Aviv district is a world-class metropolitan area, and Trump would have no problem finding a lot of ex-New Yorkers to schmooze with. If not Tel Aviv, there are other up-and-coming cities in Israel.
Tel Aviv’s climate is wonderful: subtropical, Mediterranean. Maybe not as warm as Mar-a-Lago, but he would be welcomed there. And he could return to Florida in two years, ready to run again, either for Congress or the Presidency.
This is a win-win for everybody.
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