On the US election campaign trail, President Donald Trump touted recent developments in the Middle East after the signing of the Abraham Accords between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel. To a cheering crowd, Mr Trump praised Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, as “one of the most respected warriors”. "Middle East peace, you see what we're doing there?" Mr Trump asked the crowd in Carson City, Nevada, as he looked around for Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and a senior adviser leading the White House Middle East peace process push. “Jared, how’s the Middle East coming along, please? Coming along good. “You know, we signed the United Arab Emirates – [Sheikh] Mohamed, one of the most respected warriors in the Middle East – and Bahrain and we have other countries lined up.” It was an apparent reference to the recent agreements to normalise ties with Israel. The White House repeatedly said other Middle East countries were poised to follow the UAE and Bahrain, the first Arab countries to establish ties with Israel in 25 years. No countries have officially acknowledged talks on the matter and no date is set for further announcements. Mr Trump touted the Abraham Accords, signed at a ceremony on the White House lawn on September 15, as a key foreign policy achievement. He said his administration changed how the US had been dealing with the region for the past 50 years.<br/> "No blood in the sand, right?" At the Carson City rally on Sunday evening, he said the development had even been praised by the <em>New York Times</em>, a newspaper he has long accused of being biased against him. He also praised Mr Kushner's role in laying the groundwork for the Abraham Accords, as well as leading the US plan for a peace settlement between the Palestinians and Israel. Mr Trump also commented on his son-in-law's weight, saying he had "no weight problem, that I can tell you". "So skinny, how do you stay so skinny Jared?" Mr Trump asked. The US proposal for peace was roundly rejected by the Palestinians for failing to address occupied territories in the West Bank as well as failing to lay out East Jerusalem as the future capital of a Palestinian state. "But this guy has done a great job," the president said of Mr Kushner. "And you know the nice thing? He wants no acclaim. He just wants to do what he wants to do."
