The thread tying together everything Trump does

As world leaders arrived at the recent summit in Sharm el Sheikh, an Egyptian resort town on the shores of the Red Sea, they passed billboards depicting United States President Donald Trump and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt under the words "Together in peace".

- Ben Rhodes

What kind of peace were they hashing out and who is it for?

For Mr Trump, the common thread weaving together so much of what he does — at home and abroad — is power.

Whether he is seeking a ceasefire in Gaza or Ukraine, bombing boats off the coast of Venezuela or deploying troops to US cities, the desired result is his personal aggrandisement and the empowerment of his presidency.

When he pursues peace, it is personalised — a deal made with other strongmen rarely addresses underlying causes of conflict.

When he makes war, it is also personalised — there is no expectation, for instance, that the US Congress must authorise his actions.

Of course, exhalation was in order earlier in October, when the remaining Israeli hostages were returned to their families, hundreds of imprisoned Palestinians were released and some aid began to move into Gaza.

Mr Trump deserves credit for applying more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel than Mr Joe Biden, his predecessor, ever did. Yet there was little clarity coming out of the summit in Sharm el Sheikh about who would administer Gaza, how Hamas would disarm, or whether Israel would refrain from resuming its onslaught or annexing the West Bank.

It felt more like a victory lap than a beginning.

Over the past two years, at least 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed, the International Criminal Court has charged Mr Netanyahu with war crimes and a preponderance of experts determined that Israel committed genocide.

As the ceasefire took hold, there was no reckoning with that reality. Instead, during a stopover in Jerusalem, Mr Trump addressed the Knesset and called Mr Netanyahu “a man of exceptional courage”, suggested that he be pardoned over criminal charges he is facing in Israel and praised the “victory” that Israel won.

If that is a victory, it comes with a cost.