- The Washington Times - Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Donald Trump is the best president this nation has seen since Ronald Reagan days. But even he’s only human, and therefore, capable of missteps. And his recent deals in the Middle East may indeed one day come back to haunt America.

After all, striking deals — even lucrative economic investment deals — with governments that really don’t like America, and with nations filled with people who really want to destroy America, is risky business. Think in the 1990s when Republicans thought that by opening doors to economic development in China would move the communists to eventually shed their communist ways. Can you say backfire?



Hedieh Mirahmadi Falco, a Muslim-turned-Christian who has served as a national security expert in America for years, says Trump should not have cut a deal so quickly with Syria’s leader because “he’s a known terrorist, he’s a jihadi” and “seeing [Trump] shake his hand … was a little disturbing to me.”

Yes, economic opportunities abound, she said.

“I understand what the president was trying to do with economic development,” she said, “but I don’t think this Syrian leader deserves our president’s respect … or the lifting of sanctions.”

Terrorists don’t shed their terrorist ways simply because they forge new economic deals with those they would normally seek to terrorize.

“Very few terrorists moderate,” Mirahmadi said. “We saw that with Hamas. Hamas took over Gaza and received money for economic development and what did they do, they built tunnels.”

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There are some forces that cannot be tamed.

There are some civilizations that cannot coexist in peace.

And in certain societies, it’s religious fanaticism first — all else second.

“It is the Neo-con philosophy,” Mirahmadi said. “Give them freedom and they will love us. But it is not the case because of the underlying ideology of Islam … Radical Islamism is our mortal enemy.”

For more with Hedieh Mirahmadi Falco, tune in. And don’t forget to subscribe to the Bold and Blunt podcast and newsletter!

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