Nobody In The Middle East Is Scared Of Trump Anymore

It's dangerous when the world no longer takes the president of the United States seriously

Trump's empty threats undermine his standing, as rivals no longer fear repercussions for defying him.
Iran has never lost a negotiation with the US, as it has learned to defy Trump's red lines without consequence.
Trump's 'siege strategy' against Iran has failed to produce results, further damaging his credibility in the region.

President Trump Visits Israel And Egypt After Gaza Ceasefire Takes Effect — Source: Pool / Getty

Nobody In The Middle East Is Scared Of Trump Anymore

Trump’s Oman Threat Exposes a Bigger Problem. Tony Katz isn’t buying the bluster. “It’s dangerous when the world no longer takes the president of the United States seriously,” Katz said on “Tony Katz Today” — and after President Trump threatened to “bomb the blank out of” Oman if it gets in his way, that’s exactly the credibility problem staring the White House in the face.

The threat, first detailed in a Wall Street Journal report, floored even Katz. “Threatening Oman is not what I had on my bingo card,” he said — before pivoting to the deeper issue: an American president making threats that increasingly nobody believes he’ll back up.

Katz pressed the point with News Nation’s Leland Vittert, host of “On Balance” and author of “Born Lucky,” who didn’t soften the diagnosis. “He is no longer taken seriously,” Vittert said of Trump’s standing in the region. “He’s not taken seriously by the Israelis, not taken seriously by the Iranians.” Translation: the “Trump always wins” script doesn’t play well with regimes that study his bluffs for a living.

Vittert’s case is blunt: Iran has “never lost a negotiation” specifically because Tehran has learned it can defy Trump’s red lines without consequence. The U.S. struck Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, slapped on an economic blockade, and still — Iran controls the Strait of Hormuz, still runs Boston-whaler harassment missions against U.S. ships, and still hasn’t budged. Not exactly a shock, given the pattern.

Katz didn’t just nod along. He pushed back hard, framing Trump’s approach as a deliberate siege strategy — B-2 strikes, then economic strangulation — rather than empty threats. “Why risk the blood and the treasure when you can just slowly decapitate your enemy?” Katz asked. Fair point, except Vittert’s counter landed just as hard: you don’t get to claim a siege strategy after you’ve already declared the Strait of Hormuz “U.S. territory” and then done nothing about it. Credibility, once spent, doesn’t come back with a press release.

The two also clashed over Gaza, where Jared Kushner is negotiating Hamas disarmament while Israel refuses to budge until every weapon is gone — a position Katz called “the most natural thing in the world.” Vittert went further, arguing lasting Middle East peace was never really on the table as long as Iran keeps funding Hamas, and that Trump’s rush for a “quick win” undercuts the very leverage the Abraham Accords once built.

Bottom line from both men: Trump built real credibility isolating Iran early in his term. Whether threatening Oman burns through what’s left of it is the question nobody in the region seems willing to bet against.

Hear Tony Katz break it down live weekdays on “Tony Katz Today” on WIBC 93.1 FM, or catch the full segment on-demand.

Listen to the “Nobody In The Middle East Is Scared Of Trump Anymore” discussion in full here:

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