Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth cancelled a planned trip to Israel and will, instead, travel with President Donald Trump to the Middle East this week.
The decision to cancel the trip to Israel to join with Trump carries two significant implications.
Firstly, it shows that Hegseth and Trump are on great terms.
It comes despite Hegseth’s difficult time at the Pentagon since being confirmed to the position by the Senate.
Hegseth has had to grapple with internal sabotage and massive leaks by leftist federal workers.
The leaks and other attacks are designed to damage the legitimacy of Hegseth and the Trump administration.
Democrats have gloated about rumored dissatisfaction with Hegseth from Trump.
However, those rumors appear to be exactly that.
By all accounts, Trump is happy with Hegseth’s performance and appears to be well aware that Hegseth’s path to success was never going to be smooth.
Hegseth was scheduled to meet with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, then proceed to Saudi Arabia the next day to meet with Trump.
However, Trump invited Hegseth to join him on Air Force One and travel straight to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
The decision by Hegseth to completely skip a visit to Israel is raising questions about changing dynamics in the Trump administration’s handling of the Middle East.
What is interesting is that a litany of top brass from the Trump administration will be going to Saudi Arabia with Trump and Hegseth.
This extensive list includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
The top Trump officials will all be heading for a seemingly massive meeting that suggests something big will happen on this trip.
As for Israel, Hegseth is going to visit at a later date.
The White House has specifically rejected the idea that the visit was cancelled, but instead has simply been delayed.
It seems that the Trump administration has downgraded Israel’s importance in the region.
This could be the result of significant developments at the White House.
The president recently fired national security adviser Mike Waltz after it was discovered that he had secretly coordinated with Israel to push Trump to use military force against Iran.
Further reports have suggested that Waltz was effectively a spy for Israel in the White House.
Furthermore, it was Waltz who added a journalist from The Atlantic to a Signal chat with Trump administration officials who were discussing the ongoing strikes against terrorists in Yemen.
If the reports are correct, Waltz was not only a liability, he was actively undermining Trump and working on behalf of Israel.
While a lot of this information isn’t set in stone, this could explain why Israel is suddenly being put on the back burner.
Trump is pursuing diplomatic avenues to sort out the conflicts in the Middle East and is working to end the war in Gaza as well as rein in Iran and stop it from obtaining nuclear weapons.
It seems Israel will have to get its priorities straight if it wants to stay ahead of other Middle Eastern nations’ courting Trump’s diplomatic favor.
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