--- title: J K Rowling Calls Out the Impact of Trump on Middle East description: The 'Harry Potter' author just pointed out an unintentional consequence of Trump's latest: some former enemies are now on the same page. canonical: https://time.com/4905015/jk-rowling-trump-middle-east/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-17T18:42:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:46:35.909Z og:title: J.K. Rowling Calls Out One Surprising Effect Trump Just Had og:description: "Unbelievable. He actually did bring the Middle East together" og:url: https://time.com/4905015/jk-rowling-trump-middle-east/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt483f20508215eb02/6988c3be8fd2eea0ab356af1/jk-rowling_donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 170420_JK Rowling & Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: J.K. Rowling Calls Out One Surprising Effect Trump Just Had twitter:description: "Unbelievable. He actually did bring the Middle East together" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt483f20508215eb02/6988c3be8fd2eea0ab356af1/jk-rowling_donald-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # J.K. Rowling Just Pointed Out One Surprising Result of Trump's Remarks  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 17, 2017 6:42 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 04: U.S. President Donald Trump listens to a queston during an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building April 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump delivered remarks and answered questions from the audience during a town hall event with CEO's on the American business climate. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 04: U.S. President Donald Trump listens to a queston during an event at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building April 4, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump delivered remarks and answered questions from the audience during a town hall event with CEO's on the American business climate. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)Jeff Spicer & Win McNamee—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Aug 17, 2017 6:42 PM UTC [Count on J.K. Rowling](http://time.com/4893163/j-k-rowling-on-trump-emerson/) to always inject some wry levity and perspective into political proceedings. On Thursday, the _Harry Potter_ author and [prolific Twitter user](http://time.com/4838916/j-k-rowling-donald-trump-abraham-lincoln-quote/) shared a screen grab of a TV channel broadcast in which the chyron is nothing short of surprising: “Iran and Israel condemn Trump’s comments,” it reads. “Unbelievable. He actually did bring the Middle East together,” Rowling dryly commented on the image in her tweet. Iran and Israel have [long been enemies](http://time.com/4243583/payam-feili-iranian-poet-israel/), but she joked that Trump may have inadvertently had a successful unifying effect. For the two nations to agree on something — in this case, Trump’s [comments](http://time.com/4903565/rabbinical-council-of-america-donald-trump-nazi-white-supremacists/) on the violent events in Charlottesville — is noteworthy. Brokering peace in the Middle East has also been a [consistent blocking point](http://time.com/4348953/obama-at-war-and-peace-in-the-middle-east-and-asia/) for U.S. presidents in the last half-century. Trump’s current Middle East foreign policy approach has included sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner to the region [to engage in peace talks](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/06/jared-kushners-road-from-jerusalem-to-nowhere.html). See Rowling’s latest take on the President below. > [](https://twitter.com/jk%5Frowling/status/898195696221917185) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4905015/jk-rowling-trump-middle-east/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4905015/jk-rowling-trump-middle-east/"},"headline":"J.K. 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