President Trump’s signature transactionalism and emphasis on personal relationships with foreign leaders are helping not hindering US foreign policy.

President Donald Trump’s push for a peace deal in Gaza appeared to pay off in the late hours of October 8 as Israel and Hamas indicated they had agreed to the first phase of a deal. Trump has been pushing for peace in Gaza since a ceasefire deal was secured before he took office in January. However, the push for peace has still taken time. There may be lessons to be learned from what appeared to work in late September and early October.

The White House has focused throughout 2025 on ending the war in Gaza and bringing home the hostages that Hamas holds in Gaza. Towards that end, it played a key role in a ceasefire from January through March. When the ceasefire broke down, US envoy Steve Witkoff attempted to revive it, and the Trump administration secured the release of the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, in May.

In July, Trump again pushed for peace and continued to try to revive efforts for a Gaza deal in late August and then in September. What has brought success in October is the ability to bring together Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, and the United States in Egypt for discussions with Hamas. There may be a lesson in this for the Trump administration’s search for a global doctrine. It brings together US partners and allies with Trump’s personal approach.

During his first term in office and the first ten months of his second term, Trump developed a distinctive approach to foreign policy. This doctrine is not always clearly articulated, but it has several unique elements. One of the main themes is a desire to end conflicts abroad and avoid entangling the US in further conflicts.

A second theme is a transactional approach to foreign ties, which typically, if commonsensically, means assessing whether foreign countries are fulfilling their obligations. What that has meant in the past is pressuring NATO to increase spending, or ensuring that countries in the Middle East continue to spend heavily on US defense platforms and aircraft.

The process that led to the Gaza deal was emblematic of both themes in Trump’s approach. First, he sought to bring together several Middle East countries to promote peace. This included talks with Arab and Muslim states, including close US allies and partners such as Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt. Turkey is seeking numerous deals in the US that could total billions in potential purchases from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, according to reports from September.

The Turkey aircraft deals follow purchases by Qatar announced in May. The White House said in May, during a visit by Trump to Qatar, that “today in Qatar, President Donald Trump signed an agreement with Qatar to generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion. President Trump also announced economic deals totaling more than $243.5 billion between the United States and Qatar, including a historic sale of Boeing aircraft and GE Aerospace engines to Qatar Airways.”

These trade ties also provide an incentive for long-term peace in the region. Turkey has already seen how this can become a roller coaster. After Ankara acquired S-400s from Russia in 2019, it was given the cold shoulder in the F-35 program. Now Ankara wants to be back on better terms with Washington. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has enjoyed warm ties with Trump over the years.

A key feature of Trump’s foreign policy doctrine is to approach US foreign ties through the prism of personal relationships with leaders abroad. In the lead-up to the Gaza peace deal proposal, which was announced on September 29, Trump met with Arab and Muslim leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA. This face-to-face meeting appears to have paved the way for the deal that took place in Egypt on October 8.

Several key tactics helped push the deal forward. Trump frequently announced progress before the two sides had fully agreed. He was also willing to appear to pressure Israel, demanding an end to bombing in Gaza, for instance. This appearance of being willing to pressure everyone involved has succeeded because the pressure is combined with win-win promises for all the countries.

The president thanked Turkey, Qatar, and Egypt on October 8 as the deal was concluded. Israel also feels it has secured most of what it wanted in Gaza. Trump has appealed directly to Israelis and spoken with freed hostages and families of hostages to show he is in tune with what the Israeli public wants.

There is a sense that the White House believes this deal can reset strategy in the Middle East. One part of this policy portrays Trump as helping Israel get out of a conflict that was increasingly unpopular around the world.

“Israel cannot fight the world,” Trump said in a phone call with Netanyahu. He also believes that this deal will pave the way for future progress on peace in the region, much like the Abraham Accords, which were secured during the first term between Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also praised this “historic moment.”

The question now is whether a successful doctrine will emerge from these first steps in ending the Gaza war. First, all parties must uphold the ceasefire. There is also a question as to whether the peace plan moves to its second phase. Last January’s ceasefire never reached the next stage of its planned sequence.

If the deal can be finalized, then the White House might try to apply this model for success to Ukraine and other conflicts. In any case, the United States has long sought to focus on Asia and near-peer rivalries with countries such as Russia and China. 

Beijing and Moscow aim to establish a new world order, one that challenges the US-led order that emerged after the Cold War. They have been working to achieve this goal diplomatically, militarily, and economically. That means that after success in the Middle East, Washington will find its credibility increasing in other areas. Trump has claimed to have helped end seven conflicts in his first year in office. The Gaza deal will be the largest test yet for his doctrine.