U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to bring peace and stability to the Middle East has backfired. He has put a major U.S. ally, Qatar, in a geopolitical crisis and damaged his Cabinet's efforts to calm regional tensions.
Trump's recent trip to the area was intended to bring together like-minded Arab states and Israel to hold the line against Iran. That effort has instead divided long-standing American allies.
Soon after Trump left the region, several Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, a key enabler of regional U.S. military operations. One of the primary reasons for this rebuke was Qatar's refusal to buy into the narrative that Iran must be isolated from its neighbors.