Former Biden officials offer rare praise for Trump's bold Middle East moves

"Gosh, I wish I could work for an administration that could move that quickly," one official admitted.

"It's hard not to be simultaneously terrified at the thought of the damage he can cause with such power, and awed by his willingness to brazenly shatter so many harmful taboos," Rob Malley, former special envoy to Iran under Biden, also said.

"He does all this, and it's kind of silence, it's met with a shrug," Ned Price, a former State Department spokesperson in the Biden administration, added. "He has the ability to do things politically that previous presidents did not, because he has complete unquestioned authority over the Republican caucus."

Trump said Tuesday during a speech in Saudi Arabia that he was dropping U.S. sanctions on Syria, implemented under ousted President Bashar al-Assad, "in order to give them a chance at greatness."

"It's so clearly the right decision," Rhodes agreed. "I don't know why Joe Biden didn't do this."

"I don't like Trump's motivations for lots of things he does," Rhodes added. "But one thing you will say is he's not tied to this constant fear of some bad-faith right-wing attacks or stupid Blob-type, 'we don't do this, we must leverage the sanctions for blah blah blah.' No! Sometimes you just have to try something different."