After Donald Trump announced a historic diplomatic deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, CNN Newsroom host Kate Bolduan and White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins spent more time wondering how Trump will use the deal to boost his re-election chances with Collins going so far as to insinuate the timing of the announcement is suspiciously close to the election.
After summarizing administration officials' statements on the importance of the deal and how it will help the U.S. and our allies stand up to Iran, Collins noted the timing, "We should note they're announcing this agreement with the president's election coming up, certainly something he's going to try to tout on the campaign trail in the next few weeks as he's making his case to voters."
Bolduan concurred that seeing domestic politics in the greatest diplomatic breakthrough in a quarter-century was critical, "Kaitlan, it cannot go unnoticed as you're noting how many people were coming in the room, I took notice some of the language you heard from the president, right? 'We don't need the oil, I kept us out of war, we don't have to be there,' he joked that he actually wanted the deal to be named after him, it is very clear that he thinks this is a winning re-election message. That that can't go unnoticed."
In response, Collins recalled, "[Trump] was talking about the negotiations between the UAE and Israel, something that is ongoing for a long time, but for them to take this step, that's what the president was praising there" and wondered "Why now? Why is this the time that the UAE and Israel are coming to this agreement?"
Instead of Trump wanting a campaign talking point, it's possible that Israel and the UAE wanted to get this done before the election, because if Joe Biden were to win and go back to Obama-era policies, both countries would lose an administration that has made Arab-Israeli cooperation in countering Iran a priority, but reporting this would require CNN to admit Obama's Middle East policies failed. Speaking of failed Obama policies, it's also important now because the U.N. arms embargo on Iran is set to expire in October.
After Collins reported that both countries would be coming to the White House for a signing ceremony, Bolduan repeated the detail as if Trump was intending to show off prior to the election, "In fact, having the signing ceremony at the White House," but of course such ceremonies are not unprecedented.
With that Bolduan went to commercial, after which she returned to the regularly scheduled pandemic coverage. At no point in the 11:00 hour did she bring on any foreign policy experts or analysts to discuss and was content to have CNN's initial analysis of the history-making moment be conducted by two journalists most concerned about the election.
This segment was sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.
Here is a transcript for the August 13 show:
CNN Newsroom
8/13/2020
11:34 PM ET
KAITLAN COLLINS: Now, that is what the president says, we also saw the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu comment on this as well, seeming to confirm the details of what the president laid out in this agreement and then one other notable aspect of this, you heard, they were going around the room, Brian Hook is a State Department official, he’s on his way out, but he was talking about what this means for Iran and they said this is Iran's worst nightmare. So, clearly you see how the administration is viewing this as well through that lens. And, of course, we should note they're announcing this agreement with the president's election coming up, certainly something he's going to try to tout on the campaign trail in the next few weeks as he's making his case to voters.
KATE BOLDUAN: Yeah, Israel, it said in that joint statement, that the president posted, Israel is hitting the pause button on its annexation plans in the West Bank. Kaitlan, it cannot go unnoticed as you're noting how many people were coming in the room, I took notice some of the language you heard from the president, right? “We don't need the oil, I kept us out of war, we don't have to be there,” he joked that he actually wanted the deal to be named after him, it is very clear that he thinks this is a winning re-election message. That that can't go unnoticed.
COLLINS: Yeah, he's seen the Middle East as part of that. That's what he ran on in 2016, talking about withdrawing troops, troops are still in Afghanistan, we should note. When the president was talking about this, he was saying “I wanted to call it the Donald J. Trump accord”, he said that and there was laughter in the room, he was talking about the negotiations between the UAE and Israel, something that is ongoing for a long time, but for them to take this step, that's what the president was praising there, talking about UAE, well, we'll wait to hear from them, see how they are touting it as well to see that means going forward, but definitely it is -- it does seem to be clear that it is going to be something the president wants to use as part of his re-election, because he's talking about what he said in 2016, and he was talking about the Middle East now and he was trying to say that this is a foreshadowing of what’s to come. Now, of course, it is hard to predict with the Middle East, but the president was seeming to say that they want to make more of these agreements, and that's why I asked, you know, why now? Why is this the time that the UAE and Israel are coming to this agreement? And the president was talking about the negotiations that have gone on, he said he didn't want to shed a light on some other details, it is not really clear what that was that the president was talking about, but we will wait to see, when do these two countries come to the White House for this signing ceremony? They said over the next several weeks, but it wasn't really specific, but, you know, that could be an opportunity to learn more about this, given, of course that it is so significant, based on how the president is portraying it.
BOLDUAN: In fact, having the signing ceremony at the White House. Kaitlan, thank you very much.
