Trump has a rival for that Nobel Peace Prize now he’s let Blair into the White House

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When you hear that Donald Trump is holding a meeting in the White House about the future of Gaza with no representatives of the Palestinian people present – nor even of Israel, or the neighbouring Arab nations – you have to fear for the worst.

But when you also hear that Tony Blair has, somehow, interpolated himself into the discussions, you should also exhale with a sense of palpable relief.

In that context, and in the generally bleak outlook for the Palestinian people, the fact that the former British prime minister was present at what might be called a “blue skies” session in the Oval Office – to discuss with Trump all aspects of the Gaza issue, including escalating food aid deliveries, the hostage crisis and “next day” plans for the moments after the war is finally over – is nothing less than divine intervention.

Apart from Trump’s useless “peace envoy” Steve Witkoff, who so disastrously misunderstood Putin’s intentions before the Alaska summit, the only other person with experience of the region was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and his envoy during the first term.

Probably alone in the gathering, Blair actually believes in the two-state solution, even if the years he spent as an international peace envoy didn’t achieve any breakthroughs and must have given him cause for doubt. In slightly more hopeful times, from his departure as prime minister in 2007 to 2015, Blair acted on behalf of the Quartet, comprising the UN, EU, America and Russia. Part of his remit was the economic development and building up the infrastructure in the occupied territories. Much of what was built with international aid has now been converted into dust by a combination of Israeli munitions and cynical misrule by Hamas.

But why was Blair there? The phrase “something to do with Peter Mandelson” springs to mind, given that Lord Mandelson is our sinuous man in DC, and remains close to both the former British prime minister and the present one.

Of course, lots of people think Blair’s old job as the Quartet Middle East peace envoy was a sick joke, and will never forgive him for his illegal war in Iraq, and all that followed. They are appalled at the very sight of the man and this access to the US president. As one such critic, the hard-left commentator Ash Sarkar, quipped: “Well, I guess it’s because Satan was unavailable.”

Enough of this childish spite. If I were a Palestinian devastated by loss of family, friends, and home, I would be grateful that there is at least one person who has their interests in mind as Trump contemplates their fate. Blair has experience in dealing with successive American presidents in all their variety, albeit not as isolationist as this one, and he knows the Israelis and the Palestinians well. In fact, his premiership overlapped with one of Netanyahu’s many spells as premier of Israel. They’re not strangers.

Blair is still a world figure, and will be listened to in Riyadh, Cairo and Ankara. He is ideally qualified to contribute to a renewed peace effort. One might hope that he will use his knowledge, authority and charm to steer Trump away from the forcible expulsion of people from their homeland and towards a viable future for an independent state of Palestine.

If Blair can persuade Trump that the “New Gaza” can be a peaceful and prosperous place with American support, with its Palestinian population lifted out of poverty and given new opportunities to fulfil their potential, and free of Hamas, then he will have done far more good than his many detractors. They should wish the man they think is currently deputy to Satan well: he’ll be doing God’s work.

A two-state solution is inevitable, and it’s Blair’s task to persuade Trump of that. Indeed, we might even fancy that Blair, at 72, may be approaching an unlikely peak in his career as the great architect of peace in the Middle East. He’d certainly do a more effective job than Witkoff at pulling off a historic compromise.

President Trump, therefore, has some friendly competition in his quest for the 2025 Nobel Prize for Peace. Maybe he and Blair, one of the odder partnerships in world politics, could share it. Satan (and Sakar) would be terribly annoyed.