Trump vowed to become a ‘peacemaker’ but foreign conflict only increased in his watch

President Donald Trump, in a January inauguration speech, estimates “His most proud legacy will be a maker of peace and unifying.”

Six months entered their second term, conflict raged in three fronts worldwide.

Iran and Israel are carrying out attacks in the midst of an all-out concern where the US can be involved. Russia carried out one of the deadliest attacks in the capital of Ukraine in a few months last night this week. In Gaza, people struggled to find food and dozens had been killed in this new incident near the aid location.

“He is clearly not a peacemaker, but he is also not a warmer,” Aaron David Miller, a diplomat of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the Clinton and George W. Bush government – is now at Carnegie Endowment for Peace International – told ABC News.

Trump vowed Speedy ended with the Israeli-Hamas war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two conflicts that broke out in the previous government that Trump had labeled “Biden War.” On the campaign path, he often reviled “endless war” and reflecting on that he could complete the Russian-Ukraine War in 24 hours-a comment once in the office he walked back as “excessive.”

“He has commented on everything that this can be done quickly or easily and there is a solution for these three problems,” Miller said. “However, he has not succeeded even identifying what I consider to be a strategy that has the potential to be effective in managing or moreover. And therein lies the challenge.”

While Trump has made a new diplomatic effort as a priority in the midst of his busy initiative during his first months, he stated that he was more frustrated with foreign leaders involved and continued to condemn what he called the “death” of the conflict had occurred.

“He has followed up on his promise to try,” said Elliott Abrams, a senior colleague for the Middle East study at the Foreign Relations Council who worked as a special representative for Iran and Venezuela in Trump’s first government. “He has tried in Ukraine and he has tried in Gaza and he tried in Iran, and none of them succeeded.”

One of the claims of success in the foreign policy front that Trump often made, and said he could be imitated by encouraging trade agreements, was how he said he stopped this new battle between India and Pakistan. Trump claims he hasn’t received enough credit: “I stopped. I don’t think I have one story.”

Trump now faces difficult choices in Iran and Israel

Trump left a group of seven summits earlier, quoting tensions in the Middle East and ordered his national security team to curl up in the situation space after returning to Washington. He received various choices, including using US military assets to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Trump did not rule out the possibility, telling reporters on Wednesday: “I might do it. I might not do it. I mean, no one knows what I will do.”

The president’s message about conflict has been diverse.

Trump openly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that strikes could thwart the conversation between the US and Iran with a nuclear agreement. But after the Israeli attack last Friday in Tehran, Trump seemed to change his tone, told ABC News that they were “extraordinary” and said they could take Tehran to the negotiating table.

In the last few days, he drifted down to send Vice President JD Vance and Steve Witkoff’s special messenger to talk to Iranians while also demanding “Unconditional Iran.” Officials said the US had not been involved in Israeli attacks, while Trump claimed “We now have complete and total control over the sky over Iran.”

“His words and actions are chaotic and inconsistent,” Miller said about Trump. “And the idea that he could not be predicted and it helped him certainly not proven to be a case so far in these three conflicts.”

The White House and Vice President Vance have maintained Trump’s position in Iran, saying he has long been clear and consistent that the nation cannot have nuclear weapons.

Abrams acknowledged Trump’s message might be “confusing” but represented a rapidly changing situation on the ground in Tehran.

“One thing he tried to explain to Ayatollah was that if he attacked the American ships from the base he did, that was the end of the regime. That was something that must be done by the President,” Abrams said.

Peace in the Russian-Ukraine War and Israel-Hamas remains out of reach

When administration increases its focus on Israel and Iran, other regions stopped.

“In Gaza, no one makes plans that can be applied,” Abrams said. “This is an evil problem. [Joe] Biden did not make plans in 15 months after October 7 and Trump has not made what can be applied. “

The peace agreement of the first three phrases aimed at ending the war in Gaza, which was mediated by members of the Biden and Trump administration, collapsed in March. Since then, a proposal for a ceasefire temporarily has fallen.

In Eastern Europe, Trump took a different approach from his predecessor in involving Ukraine and Russian leaders, often saying his personal relationship with Vladimir Putin would produce results.

Some progress seems to have been made when Russian and Ukraine officials held their first face -to -face meeting since the invasion began in mid -May. But the conversation has stopped, with Trump’s government a step back while Ukraine and Russia have intensified the attacks in recent weeks.

“The president did many panting about the need for peace, but he was not ready to really push Putin in that direction,” said Stephen Sesanovich, a senior colleague at the Foreign Relations Council who served as the Ambassador of the Department of Foreign Affairs to the former Soviet Union.

William Taylor, a former US Ambassador to Ukraine during the Obama administration who currently serves as a senior partner in the Atlantic Council, said Putin would not be diplomatically affected.

“Putin will be adrift by a combination of military and economic pressure,” Taylor said. “So President Trump must do that.”

There is no new commitment made to send US weapons to Ukraine and there are no new sanctions given to Russia, and now there are reports that Trump’s administration dissolves groups that focus on suppressing Russia.

“For someone who claims to have mastered the art of agreement, this is a pretty spectacular failure,” Sesanovich said about Trump’s approach to the Russian-Ukraine War so far.

Anna Kelly, Deputy Secretary of the White House press, responded to the criticism, saying in a statement, “President Trump led the world in ending this brutal war, which he inherited from his incompetent predecessor, Joe Biden. No one cared about the opinions of ‘experts’ who did nothing to make the world safer.” “