One of the uncertainties as the new Trump administration’s envoys travel through Europe and the Middle East is how much, exactly, they will talk about the president. Billionaire Steve Witkoff, 67, a real estate investor and friend since the 1980s, has emerged as Trump’s chief representative in the Middle East and with the Russians. As one Arab official told Axios, “if you want a deal, you have to do it with him . ”
In addition to convincing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept the Gaza ceasefire, Witkoff is now one of three Trump envoys to Saudi Arabia to begin negotiations with the Russians and end the war in Ukraine.
He has already brought American prisoner Marc Fogel home from Moscow on his private jet, but most notably met with Putin for three and a half hours before the latter spoke on the phone with Trump. Witkoff is also the point man for talks with Iran, where Trump hopes to reach a new nuclear deal this year.
Ambassador Roger Carstens, Biden's special envoy for hostage issues, told Corriere della Serra that there is a "kings and wizards theory" in Negotiation Studies. "The 'kings' are the heads of state, with their positions sometimes seeming inflexible, and the 'wizards' are the rare skilled people. "From what I've seen in recent weeks," Carstens says, " Witkoff falls into the wizards category . "
Trump advisers stress that his role is not a replacement for Secretary of State Marco Rubio , and that Witkoff was instrumental in suggesting that Trump pick Rubio, as well as J.D. Vance, as vice president. Rubio, a 53-year-old senator from Florida, respected for his foreign policy experience and considered a “hawk,” has several roles to play: on the one hand, he reaffirms Trump’s statements ( in Israel, where he said yesterday that his plan for the Riviera in Gaza is “bold” ), on the other, he suggests that all countries try to do the same about their responsibilities towards the Palestinians and formulate alternative plans, and he also has to prove himself useful in the eyes of the president.
In Central America, he succeeded in sending illegal immigrants deported from the US, but he failed to resolve the conflict over the Panama Canal, and was preceded by Richard Grenell , the special envoy for missions ( his former rival for the post of Secretary of State ) who met with President Maduro in Caracas.
In some cases, he has seemed a bit of a firefighter: when an executive order blocked foreign aid, Rubio included military aid to Ukraine in the exemptions and spared embassy staff contracts - notes political scientist Ian Bremmer, according to whom the US Secretary of State "would like to keep the development agency's core programs alive, which did not resemble the practical conditions of USAID."
Rubio’s trip to Israel, The New York Times notes, drew little public reaction amid uncertainty about his influence compared to Witkoff and other advisers. Thus, ahead of a visit to NATO by Pete Hegseth, a former soldier and television host who now heads the Pentagon, some European officials wondered to what extent he was speaking for Trump. Hegseth alarmed Europeans by calling it “unrealistic” that Kiev would join NATO and hold on to the territories it captured in 2014. The next day, when he appeared to soften his position, reporters asked Trump if he had asked Hegseth, but the president said no.
Among the envoys are those who go up and those who go down. Trump said that in addition to Witkoff, Waltz and Rubio, the negotiating team for Ukraine will include CIA director John Ratcliffe , but he left out Keith Kellogg , who is also the nominee for Ukraine and Russia.
In recent days, Morgan Ortagus , 42, Witkoff's deputy, made her first mission to Lebanon. When he appointed her as deputy Middle East envoy, Trump had chided her: "She's been against me for three years, but hopefully she's learned her lesson" ( in 2016 she criticized Trump's isolation ).
A convert to Judaism, Ortagus served as a liaison officer at the Treasury, spokeswoman for Mike Pompeo at the State Department, and worked with Jared Kushner on the Abraham Accords. In recent days, she was photographed with a rocket in her arms in Lebanon where she declared that Hezbollah cannot be part of the government: " It's a red line ." (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
