Days after President Donald Trump returned from first trip abroad, stopping in Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Italy, the Saudis — along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain — cut ties with Qatar, halting traffic on sea, air, and land and ordering Qatari citizens to leave the Gulf states within two weeks.
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The US military doesn't seem to be on board with Trump's condemnation of Qatar
Since Trump appeared to throw his weight behind the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar, the US has sold weapons to and done naval drills with the Qataris.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, Saudi King Salman, U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump, visit a new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The move amounted to a significant fracture of the relative stability the Gulf had enjoyed in comparison to the turmoil embroiling the wider region and would be a hindrance on US-led efforts to deescalate tensions elsewhere in the Middle East.
Yet, days after the severing of ties, Trump appeared to throw the US's weight behind the Saudi-led bloc.
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