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From 'Love' to 'Thug': Biden Win to Change US-North Korea Dynamic

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and US President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019. (AP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and US President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019. (AP)
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From 'Love' to 'Thug': Biden Win to Change US-North Korea Dynamic

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and US President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019. (AP)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) and US President Donald Trump prepare to shake hands at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, June 30, 2019. (AP)

Headline-grabbing summits between the leaders of North Korea and the United States will be off the agenda for some time, analysts say, after US president-elect Joe Biden characterized Kim Jong Un a "thug", in contrast to Donald Trump's declarations of love.

Trump's bizarre diplomatic engagement with Pyongyang veered from mutual insults and threats of war to "love letters" and the first ever meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

The two mercurial men met twice more after their landmark summit in Singapore in 2018, but with no concrete progress in denuclearization efforts.

Now Biden's victory heralds a return to more standard diplomatic norms, analysts say, with his administration wanting to see tangible steps towards denuclearization and progress at a series of working-level negotiations before any made-for-TV summits.

On the campaign trail, Biden said he would not meet with Kim without preconditions and accused Trump of "emboldening" the North Korean leader.

In the final presidential debate last month, the Democrat denounced Trump for befriending Kim, likening the North Korean leader to Adolf Hitler.

"He's talked about his good buddy, who's a thug," Biden said of Kim. "That's like saying we had a good relationship with Hitler before he invaded Europe."

For its part, while Pyongyang's state media has yet to mention the election or the result, it has previously excoriated Biden, with the official Korean Central News Agency calling him a "rabid dog" that must be "beaten to death".

'Slightly peeved'
According to analysts North Korea saw in Trump's unorthodox approach its best chance of securing a deal that would allow it to keep at least some of its nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), both of which are banned under UN Security Council resolutions.

Pyongyang will be "slightly peeved by the change in leadership", said former CIA analyst Soo Kim, according to AFP.

"The regime is aware the prospects of a top-level meeting with a US leader are going to be slim now," she added.

"We're expecting a more principled, systematic approach to Pyongyang. This likely means less ad hoc interactions and some method to dealing with Kim."

Throughout the process with Trump, Pyongyang has continued to develop and advance its arsenal, displaying an array of new weapons -- including a huge new ICBM -- at a military parade last month marking the 75th anniversary of its ruling party.

It has carried out dozens of missile launches since the collapse of the second Kim-Trump summit in Hanoi in February 2019, but the North has made sure not to cross the US president's red lines of an ICBM or nuclear test.

Pyongyang probably held off testing strategic weapons this year "out of consideration for Trump", said Shin Beom-chul, a researcher at the Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.

"North Korea hoped for Trump's re-election," he told AFP.

But Pyongyang has become increasingly frustrated that the vaunted personal relationship between Kim and Trump has not led to an easing of sanctions or other substantive concessions from Washington.

In July, Kim's powerful younger sister said the US appeared to be "hostile" towards the North "no matter how good the relations between the top leaders".

'Adverse reaction'
Biden's victory will have "greatly complicated Pyongyang's calculations", said Park Won-gon, a professor of international relations at Handong Global University.

North Korea despises Biden for his role in the Obama administration, which adopted a policy of "strategic patience", refusing to engage with Pyongyang unless it offered concessions first, or until the regime collapsed from within.

The North carried out a nuclear test four months into Obama's first term, but is likely to wait to assess the Biden administration's approach before launching major provocations in a bid to seize the "upper hand", said former CIA analyst Kim.

"Kim Jong Un may understand that a poorly timed launch may elicit an adverse reaction from the US and its partners," she said.

Instead, Park suggested, Pyongyang may resort to lower-level actions to try to grab the new US president's attention.

"There is a large possibility that Pyongyang will target South Korea," he said. "It could judge that it is safer to create tension on the Korean peninsula."

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How Trump’s Decisions Reshaped Syria

A photo of US President Donald Trump meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Washington on Nov. 10 (AFP)
A photo of US President Donald Trump meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Washington on Nov. 10 (AFP)
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How Trump’s Decisions Reshaped Syria

A photo of US President Donald Trump meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Washington on Nov. 10 (AFP)
A photo of US President Donald Trump meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Washington on Nov. 10 (AFP)

In a crowded regional and international landscape shaped by overlapping security, strategic, economic, and political pressures, the administration of US President Donald Trump has moved since its return to the White House in January 2025 to recalibrate its approach to Syria.

After years of US policy marked by hesitation and competing agendas, particularly under the administrations of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, Washington is now pursuing a more direct and openly pragmatic course, one focused on achieving tangible results on the ground and managing delicate balances, rather than ideological commitments or long-term strategic gambles.

The shift reflects profound changes inside Syria itself, led by the collapse of the former regime and the emergence of a new government seeking to consolidate domestic legitimacy and secure international recognition.

These developments coincide with the persistent threat posed by ISIS, a retreat in Iranian influence, and the expanding regional roles of Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, and Qatar.

Within this evolving landscape, Washington is repositioning its policy in line with what officials describe as Trump’s Middle East doctrine, centered on enforcing stability, limiting the costs of direct military involvement, and opening pathways for reconstruction, development, and investment.

Interests before ideology

Commenting on this shift, Firas Fahham, a researcher at the Abaad Studies Center, said President Trump’s policy toward Syria could be described as “decidedly pragmatic,” focusing primarily on international and economic interests while setting aside the ideological or intellectual background of Syria’s new government.

Fahham said the central pillar of the emerging convergence between Washington and Damascus was preventing the return of Iranian influence to Syria, a goal that sits at the top of the current US administration’s priorities.

He added that this approach could not be separated from the positions of Arab states allied with the United States, which have openly supported the new Syrian government, led by Saudi Arabia, followed by Türkiye and Qatar.

Fahham said the Trump administration had shown a willingness to respond to these positions, viewing them as a key foundation for rebuilding regional alliances.

Comparing the approach with previous administrations, Fahham said the policies of Obama and Biden had been closer to allowing Iran a free hand in the region and supporting minority influence, particularly through close cooperation with the Syrian Democratic Forces, known as the SDF.

He said this had complicated the landscape and weakened prospects for establishing a strong central state capable of maintaining security and preventing the return of extremist groups.

From Riyadh to Washington...turning points

Fahham traced key milestones in Trump’s new policy, saying the starting point came during meetings held in Riyadh in June, when the US president, at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria.

He described the move as the first positive signal from Washington toward Damascus. This was followed by a trilateral meeting bringing together Trump, the Saudi Crown Prince, and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, during which the US president offered notable praise for his Syrian counterpart, reflecting Washington’s desire for political openness.

The most important moment, Fahham said, came at the Washington summit held in November, when Trump received President al-Sharaa at the White House in what he described as a pivotal turning point.

Following the meeting, the US administration began concrete efforts to pressure Congress to repeal the Caesar Act, while announcing Syria’s inclusion in the international coalition against ISIS.

This, Fahham said, shifted the relationship from limited coordination to something resembling an alliance.

The SDF and the future of eastern Syria

On the issue of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Fahham said the Trump administration was dealing with the matter from a strictly practical standpoint, balancing its interests with Syria’s new government, reflected in reduced support for the SDF compared with the Biden era, and its interests with its Turkish ally.

Washington, he said, now views Damascus as the most effective actor in the fight against ISIS.

This assessment, he said, was based on recommendations from US research centers. They concluded that previous reliance on the Kurdish component alone, and practices associated with it in eastern Syria, had created a sense of grievance that ISIS later exploited for recruitment.

As a result, the administration became convinced that cooperation with Damascus was more effective.

In a related context, Fahham said Washington viewed Israeli incursions in southern Syria with dissatisfaction, considering them destabilizing and contrary to Trump’s vision for regional development.

The United States, he added, fears that weakening the Syrian government could reopen the door to renewed Iranian influence and ISIS activity.

As for the southern province of Sweida, Fahham said the US administration supports integrating the province into the state, citing remarks by US envoy Tom Barrack, who stated that decentralization had failed in the Middle East, reflecting a preference for backing a unified Syria.

A parallel reading from the military establishment

From another angle, researcher on armed groups Raed al-Hamed offered a complementary reading of the US position.

He said that although Trump, during his first term, had moved toward withdrawing forces and ending the partnership with the SDF, warnings from senior military commanders about a possible ISIS resurgence after the battle of Baghouz in March 2019 prompted him to keep about 2,000 troops in Syria.

Al-Hamed noted that the partnership with the SDF dated back to the battle of Kobani in 2015, when Washington relied on the group as a ground force.

However, he said the new policy following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and Syria’s entry into the international coalition was now based on refusing to recognize any independent entity east of the Euphrates and rejecting federal formulas similar to Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Al-Hamed said the new policy offered no real US guarantees to the SDF in the face of Türkiye and coincided with pressure to integrate the group into Syria’s military and security institutions, in line with the vision of the Syrian government, which rejects any armed presence outside the framework of the state.

This, he said, is still rejected by the SDF as the deadline approaches for implementing the March agreement with the government in Damascus, scheduled for the end of this year.

Overall, the Syrian scene appears to have entered a pivotal phase that goes beyond traditional conflict equations, laying the groundwork for a new reality governed by the language of interests and reciprocal security arrangements.

While Washington and its regional allies, particularly Riyadh and Ankara, are betting on the ability of the new leadership in Damascus to impose stability and end years of chaos, observers say the success of this path will depend on developments on the ground in the coming months.

The ability of the “new republic” to balance the demands of internal reconciliation with the conditions of external alliances will be the decisive test in determining whether this turn truly marks the opening chapter of an end to years of US hesitation in the region.

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Thousands Flock to Bethlehem to Revive Christmas Spirit after 2 Years of War in Gaza

Palestinian scout bands parade toward the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian scout bands parade toward the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
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Thousands Flock to Bethlehem to Revive Christmas Spirit after 2 Years of War in Gaza

Palestinian scout bands parade toward the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
Palestinian scout bands parade toward the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the Israel-Hamas war returned on Wednesday, overlooking a parade of scouts playing songs on bagpipes.

The city where Christians believe Jesus was born cancelled Christmas celebrations for the past two years. Manger Square had instead featured a nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza, The AP news reported.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year's celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.”

Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza's tiny Christian community, where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. Among the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild.

“We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,” he told thousands of people, Christian and Muslim.

Despite the holiday cheer, the impact of the war in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is acute, especially in Bethlehem, where around 80% of the Muslim-majority city’s residents depend upon tourism-related businesses, according to the local government.

The vast majority of people celebrating were residents, with a handful of foreigners in the crowd. But some residents said they are starting to see signs of change as tourism slowly returns.

Loss of tourism devastates Bethlehem “Today is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return of normal life here,” said Bethlehem resident Georgette Jackaman, a tour guide who has not worked in more than two years.

She and her husband, Michael Jackaman, another guide, are from established Christian Bethlehem families that stretch back generations. This is the first real Christmas celebration for their two children, aged 2 1/2 and 10 months.

During the war, the Jackamans pivoted to create a website selling Palestinian handicrafts to try to support others who have lost their livelihoods.

During the Gaza war, the unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14% to 65%, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month.

A visitor from France, Mona Riewer, said that “I came because I wanted to better understand what people in Palestine are going through, and you can sense people have been through a very hard time."

Although friends and family cautioned her against coming due to the volatile situation, Riewer said being in Bethlehem helped her appreciate the meaning of the holiday.

“Christmas is like hope in very dark situations, a very vulnerable child experiencing harshness,” she said.

Despite the Gaza ceasefire that began in October, tensions remain high across much of the West Bank.

Israel’s military continues to carry out frequent raids in what it says is a crackdown on militants. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have reached their highest level since the United Nations humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.

The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Bethlehem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to attend midnight Mass for the first time in two years, the mayor said.

As poverty and unemployment have soared, about 4,000 people have left Bethlehem in search of work, the mayor said. It’s part of a worrying trend for Christians, who are leaving the region in droves.

Christians account for less than 2% of the West Bank’s roughly 3 million residents. Across the Middle East, the Christian population has steadily declined as people have fled conflict and attacks.

The beginning of a return to normal life Fadi Zoughbi, who previously worked overseeing logistics for tour groups, said his children were ecstatic to see marching bands streaming through Bethlehem's streets.

The scouts represent cities and towns across the West Bank, with Palestinian flags and tartan draped on their bagpipes, drummers spinning mallets adorned with pompoms. For the past two years, the scouts marched silently as a protest against the war.

Irene Kirmiz, who grew up in Bethlehem and now lives in Ramallah, said the scout parade is among her favorite Christmas traditions. Her 15-year-old daughter plays the tenor drum with the Ramallah scouts.

But her family had to wake up at 5 a.m. to arrive in time for the parade and waited upwards of three hours at Israeli checkpoints. The drive previously took 40 minutes without the checkpoints that have increasingly made travel difficult for Palestinians, she said.

“It's very emotional seeing people trying to bounce back, trying to celebrate peace and love,” Kirmiz said.

The Israeli Ministry of Tourism estimates 130,000 tourists will visit Israel by the end of December, including 40,000 Christians. In 2019, a banner year for tourism before the pandemic, the tourism ministry said 150,000 Christian tourists visited during Christmas week alone.

During the previous two years, the heads of churches in Jerusalem urged congregations to forgo “any unnecessarily festive activities.” They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas’ spiritual meaning and called for “fervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land.”

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Israel Planning to Exploit Druze File to Weaken Sharaa’s Rule in Syria

Head of the Military Council, Tareq al-Shoufi, is seen with his fighters.
Head of the Military Council, Tareq al-Shoufi, is seen with his fighters.
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Israel Planning to Exploit Druze File to Weaken Sharaa’s Rule in Syria

Head of the Military Council, Tareq al-Shoufi, is seen with his fighters.
Head of the Military Council, Tareq al-Shoufi, is seen with his fighters.

After the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad, Israel supported Druze fighters in the south, in an effort to weaken Syria’s new government under the rule of President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and thus complicate his efforts to unify the country after its long civil war, according to a Washington Post report on Tuesday.

Current and former Israeli officials said this policy was not an immediate reaction to developments, but rather the result of a pre-planning that began months before the collapse of the Assad regime.

Since 2024, Druze leaders in Israel sought out a Syrian Druze counterpart who could help lead the 700,000 Druze in Syria in case the Assad regime collapsed, two former Israeli officials directly involved in the effort said.

Tareq al-Shoufi

Israeli officials told the Washington Post that Israel turned to Tareq al-Shoufi, a former colonel in Assad’s army.

A former Israeli official recalled tapping “20 men with military experience, dishing out ranks and tasks, and beginning to work on what was called the ‘Military Council’” in the Druze stronghold of Sweida province in southern Syria.

At the time, the Military Council, led by Shoufi, enjoyed the support of Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri, a fiery, 60-year-old Venezuelan-born Druze cleric who has called for the establishment of a self-governing Druze state backed by Israel, a founding member of the council said.

One the former Israeli officials said that to help Shoufi renovate an old building as a command center and buy uniforms and basic equipment, Druze members of the Israeli security establishment funneled him $24,000 via the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The official added that the money was meant to tide over the Council until the Assad regime fell.

SDF role

The Post revealed that the SDF played a pivotal role in supporting Druze fighters.

The former Israeli official and two Druze commanders in Syria said up to half-million dollars were separately sent by the SDF to Hijri’s forces.

The SDF also trained Druze fighters, including women, in Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Syria, with that training reportedly continuing to this day, according to a senior Kurdish official.

Arms confiscated from Hezbollah, Hamas

The Washington Post report said when the Assad regime fell on December 8, 2024, Israel sprang directly into action.

Weapons supplied to the Druze by Israel included arms previously seized by fighters from Hezbollah and Hamas. A Druze commander told the Post that they also received sniper rifles, night vision equipment and machine gun ammunition.

Israelis are also providing monthly payments between $100 to $200 to about 3,000 Druze fighters from Hijri’s forces, two Druze officials said, further demonstrating that it continues to maintain a counterweight to the central Syrian government.

‘Fluid’ situation

The report also revealed that Israel provided Druze fighters with anti-tank missiles and satellite imagery that were used during battles against Syrian government forces, giving them a clear field advantage.

Today, Israeli officials and others briefed on their thinking say the situation in Syria — and Israel’s policy toward the Druze — remain fluid, according to the Washington Post report.

Backing an independent state would create a situation where “Israel needs to now defend a population that’s 100 kilometers away from the border,” an Israeli adviser said. “If we have an interest here, it’s not to create an independent Druzistan.”

Israeli officials have also grown wary of the internal power struggles that emerged among the Syrian Druze.

In August, Hijri sought to be recognized as the sole legitimate military authority among the Syrian Druze, and the “National Guard,” a new militia led by Hijri and his son Suleiman, replaced the Military Council as the recipient of weapons from Israel, according to a Syrian Druze commanders and the two former Israeli officials directly involved.

The move led to schisms among Druze commanders.

After US President Donald Trump first shook hands with Sharaa in May, Israel in August halted the flow of weapons to the Druze, Israeli and Druze officials revealed.

Therefore, Israel’s support for the Druze is carefully calibrated.

Israeli analysts warned that propping up an autonomous Druze state or proxy militia would represent a far different mandate than cooperating with them to secure Israel’s border.

One government adviser noted that Israel did not have a “good experience in south Lebanon,” where it supported a pro-Israel militia called the South Lebanon Army for two decades before the group crumbled in the face of Hezbollah advances in 2000.

Druze state stretching to Iraq

A Western official told the Post that Hijri prepared maps of a proposed future Druze state stretching all the way to Iraq and pitched it to at least one major Western government in early 2025.

The newspaper revealed that Israel is using the Druze paper in South Syria to undermine Sharaa’s ability to centralize power.

It said Israel is practicing a “shadow” policy in Syria: planned support for minorities, limited military intervention and tactical openness to negotiation, without a clear commitment to a final political path.

The report shows that the future of Israel’s policy towards Druze in south Syria remains dependent on the ability of Sharaa’s government to consolidate its power over the entire territory, and how willing Washington is to balance its bets on Sharaa to restore stability in Syria and respond to Israeli security concerns.