583 Days
That’s how long it took to free the last living American hostage held by Hamas
His name is Edan Alexander. Yes, President Trump negotiated his release. Yes, he is an American citizen. And yes, he was also serving in the Israel Defense Forces. He was taken hostage on October 7, 2023. He spent 583 days in captivity until President Trump managed to get him released.
We here at Meet Me in the Middle recently called out the shameless posturing by Democrats on behalf of a Salvadoran citizen known for abusing his wife who was deported to a prison in his home country while Democrats everywhere remained silent on the imprisonment of an actual American citizen. Only three weeks ago, you could not turn on MSNBC or CNN or any of the other networks that are wholly committed to dividing the nation without hearing the name Kilmar Abrego Garcia repeatedly. None of them uttered the name Edan Alexander. NONE.
Were they too cowardly to confront the truth that Hamas was holding an American citizen hostage in Gaza? Did it fly in the face of their political marching orders to even discuss the plight of this young man, now 21 years old? Why do Democrats fight so hard and so vocally for Garcia, but remain so silent about Alexander?
As we consider with disgust the overtly exaggerated coverage of Garcia in contrast with the nonexistent coverage of Alexander, we are left once again wondering how one political tribe arrives at what they believe to be the “good and right” things that make them morally superior to the other tribe.
“My revenge will be success” - Donald Trump
Now, the Democrats might not have seen Edan Alexander as important enough to talk about — and that might be true of most Republicans, as well. The Biden administration did nothing to help Edan Alexander or the other American hostages of Hamas who did not survive captivity. But MAGA made Alexander’s release a priority. No matter your tribe, it is difficult not to chalk that up as a success.
It is just one in a flurry of recent successes, at least from a meet-me-in-the-middle perspective.
Can we meet in the middle on the desire to see the stock market to bounce back? Done. After the Trump administration’s tariff strategy sent shockwaves around the world and skeptics warned of economic calamity, the value of stocks and investments are nearly back to pre-inauguration levels. Upon initiating the tariff strategy, numerous trade partners lined up to establish new trade arrangements with the U.S. The UK recently agreed to an economic agreement that lowers tariffs on U.S. goods to the UK from 5.3% to 1.8% and increases tariffs on UK goods from 3% to 10%, which will drastically improve American trade power and improve our position to export. The big news of the past week, of course, is that leadership in China caved to the pressure and struck a deal with the Trump administration. Both sides dropped tariffs immensely and Trump suspended the initial 90-day 34% tariff on Chinese goods. The White House says this about the 10% tariff going forward: “The 10% tariff continues to set a fair baseline that encourages domestic production, strengthens our supply chains and ensures that American trade policy supports American workers first, instead of undercutting them.” Almost magically, the doomsday warnings of recession have disappeared! The market responded quite favorably to all of these conditions. No matter your tribe, it is difficult not to chalk that up as a success — despite this morning’s negative market reaction to Moody’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, the Trump administration’s sparring with a retail giant, and warnings from Treasury Secretary Bessent that the countries that are lagging on good faith tariff negotiations will see see the tariff hikes return.
Can we meet in the middle on the desire to stop Houthi attacks on merchant vessels and American warships? While the Biden administration took some action to push back on these attacks, the Trump administration engaged in a much more aggressive campaign involving air strikes in Yemen. Less than two weeks ago, Trump announced that the Houthis agreed to stop their attacks on ships and the U.S. would put a halt on the bombing campaign. While many (Trump denouncers and supporters alike) criticized the bombings in Yemen, it proved to be a means to an end, with the end being much more peaceful than would have been expected of most warmongering American leaders. That is a word we hope to use more often: peace. No matter your tribe, it is difficult not to chalk that up as a success.
Can we meet in the middle on the desire to end a military conflict between two nuclear-armed nations, thus deescalating the potential for a nuclear war? Following a terrorist attack in late April, the militaries of India and Pakistan began exchanging attacks. The story of the conflict between India and Pakistan is long and complicated, but we will focus on more recent history to put the latest news in context. The last couple of months of 2024 saw an escalation in tensions between the two nations, with dozens of violations of a ceasefire agreement. To further intensify things, leaked information from the Indian government showed that Pakistan was rearming a military launch site near the border in late 2024. January 2025 saw India conducting military exercises near the border. While there were many, many contributing elements to this conflict, the flashpoint was an April terrorist attack on tourist in the Kashmir region, which triggered more aggressive military engagement from both sides. The Trump administration intervened after the aggression escalated, and recently announced that the United States mediated a “full and immediate ceasefire.” Avoiding a potential nuclear war? No matter your tribe, it is difficult not to chalk that up as a success.
Can we meet in the middle on the benefits of investment in the U.S.? President Trump recently spent several days in the Middle East. He secured capital investments of $1.4 trillion from the United Arab Emirates, $600 billion from Saudi Arabia, and $500 billion from Qatar. No president in history has ever raised so much foreign investment in the United States. Trump aimed to deepen U.S. trade ties in the region, correct trade imbalances, and strengthen America’s leadership in defense and technology exports. With more Middle Eastern countries invested in the U.S. and invested in economic harmony, it seems the region is growing more incentivized than ever to establish common cause with the U.S. and strive toward lasting stability. No matter your tribe, it is difficult not to chalk that up as a success.
Can we meet in the middle on the importance of being stronger than adversarial nations? Trump is working to redirect the United Arab Emirates interest in advancing AI in partnership with China to focusing their relationship on the U.S. The Middle East is the fastest growing region in the world, and Trump is overpowering China in that region. This is a sign that his attempts to redefine global relationships are perhaps working in extraordinary and unexpected ways. Guess what? It is going to be difficult not to chalk that up as a success.
The Trump administration’s successes are not limited to economic and international affairs. Today the president will sign the “Take It Down Act” into law. Per the White House, the act “will protect victims of digital exploitation, hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery from their platforms, and provide justice for victims by allowing prosecutors to go after those who publish nonconsensual explicit images online.” This is huge for protecting children. In a recent conversation with a colleague, we heard a personal account of a teenage girl close to his family who committed suicide after an ex-boyfriend publicly posted nude photos of her. How many lives would have been saved if legislators had made the safety of children a higher priority much sooner? More than anything else we have written about, it is going to be extremely difficult for anyone with an ounce of morality not to chalk this up as a success.
Bringing It On Home
Maybe you are skeptical of Trump’s successes. Maybe you doubt if the successes outweigh the negatives he brings to the White House. Maybe you are coming around to the guy. Regardless, the case against him is not getting stronger.
He was dragged through the mud and dragged through the courts. He was censored. The U.S. government was complicit in covering up a story that likely would have helped him win the 2020 election. Even after years of being subjected to this kind of treatment, he commented that success would be his revenge. Based on the successes he is notching, it looks like he may indeed be the vengeful kind.
The Trump47 tenure is proving to be an unorthodox one. He is doing things that NOBODY was talking about. As we have said over and over, we here at Meet Me in the Middle are interested in solutions with a hope of success. Is that what we are seeing? Look at the problems of the past couple of decades, look at the divisions. Issue after issue, we have seen failure after failure by both the Democrats and the Republicans. Now we are seeing successes that are difficult even for his most avid attackers.
If the successes keep coming, how is everyone going to handle that? Have there been any failures so far? We are not asking about mistakes, we are asking about legitimate and irrefutable failures. Have there been any successes so far? Well, we presented several examples above.
Before we struggle over whether to credit someone we may or may not like, let us just enjoy a little time here in the middle where Americans can enjoy successes that benefit America. It is fair to be skeptical. It is fair to be concerned. It is fair to attack the failures. But it is also fair to acknowledge the wins when they come.