VICTOR JOECKS: Trump’s Middle East triumph embarrassed the supposed experts

A New York real estate developer and TV star just outsmarted America’s highly credentialed foreign policy establishment.

Hamas recently returned its last 20 living hostages to Israel. That was part of a stunning Gaza peace plan announced earlier by President Donald Trump. Hamas signed on even though it hasn’t had a change of heart about its desire to destroy Israel.

“A coordinated squeeze forced Hamas to accept a deal it didn’t want,” The Wall Street Journal explained.

Qatar and Turkey said they wouldn’t continue to host Hamas leaders. Egypt said it wouldn’t try to ensure Hamas had a governing role in Gaza after the war. After two years of fighting, Hamas found itself isolated and abandoned by its allies.

This didn’t happen by accident. It required Trump’s leadership and Israel’s military brilliance.

Think back to the propaganda press’s narrative after Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. “Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks send a clear message: The adults are back in charge,” Vogue wrote in November 2020.

Biden and his Cabinet members did have impressive pedigrees. Biden has a law degree from Syracuse. During his decades in the Senate, he chaired the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee. He served eight years as vice president, visiting more than 50 countries.

He selected Antony Blinken as secretary of state. Blinken attended Harvard and Columbia Law School. He had spent decades in various foreign policy positions, including serving as deputy secretary of state during the Obama administration.

But those sterling resumes produced terrible results. In 2021, 13 American service members died as Biden surrendered in Afghanistan. In 2022, Putin invaded Ukraine. In 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, murdering around 1,200 and capturing hundreds of hostages.

The resumes of Trump and his team aren’t nearly as impressive.

Trump graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. Overcoming setbacks and business bankruptcies, he largely became wealthy and famous through developing real estate. He later starred in the TV show “The Apprentice.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio once attended Tarkio College in Missouri and a community college before graduating from the University of Florida. He earned his law degree from the University of Miami. He did serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also played a key role in securing the deal. Their backgrounds are primarily in real estate, not diplomacy.

But Trump and his people did what Biden couldn’t — secure the release of every living hostage and get Hamas to agree to a ceasefire.

It’s true that Hamas may not keep its end of the deal. The terror group has been openly murdering its rivals in a bid to reclaim power. Notice how little angst pro-Palestinian groups have about those deaths. Their actions suggest they don’t care about the lives of Palestinians. They care about dead Palestinians who can be used to smear Israel.

But by releasing the hostages, Hamas has given up the leverage that kept Israel from fully wiping out the terrorist group.

Trump’s triumph is a rebuke of America’s top universities, which supposedly produce the country’s foreign policy experts. These schools were once intellectual crucibles where students learned how to apply history’s greatest truths. Today, these campuses are ideological echo chambers where students learn conformity is the key to obtaining fancy qualifications. With this, a State Department bureaucrat can secure a nice pension, but not a foreign policy breakthrough.

For those, America must rely on those who understand how things work in the real world. No wonder real estate developers outperformed the credentialed class.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.