Trump Praises Mecca Pact; Analysts Say It Doesn't Replace US Umbrella

US President Donald Trump writes on Truth Social that he is "very happy to see" the pact, saying it "shows that the Middle East is coming together" and that "countries will finally be able to defend themselves in a more meaningful way." Analysts caution the framework falls well short of a US substitute: Umer Karim (King Faisal Center) calls it "a workable alternative" but "a separate layer of deterrence," not a replacement, while Mansoor Ahmed (ANU) notes it is "nowhere near matching" the roughly 50,000 US troops stationed across the region.