US President Donald Trump arrived back to Washington after his Middle East visit late on Friday night aboard the vintage Boeing 747 that he wants to get rid of.
It is a relic of the presidency of George HW Bush, who succeeded Ronald Reagan in the White House.
That plane and its twin brother - the so-called 'other Air Force One' - have seen many trips to and from the Middle East in the intervening decades because the premium class passengers of Air Force One have had much involvement in the region.
Mr Bush Snr launched the invasion of Iraq after it invaded Kuwait - a small, oil rich nation to its south. His son launched the second Gulf War, a much more thoroughgoing invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another temporary owner of Air Force One, Barack Obama, also became involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also opened a new front in the war on terror when the so-called Islamic State declared a caliphate in northern Iraq and eastern Syria, which by then had itself descended into civil war.
Libya too had fallen into civil war after an ill-starred Western effort to overthrow the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
All the while Lebanon disintegrated and the Houthi rebels seized power in Yemen following which Saudi Arabia declared war on the group.
Various Arab Springs happened - then mostly un-happened.
Israel and the Palestinians made a peace of sorts under Bill Clinton’s presidency, only to lose it this century.
Radical departure
But Mr Trump's trip on the old Boeing this week came with a very different message for the region and for the US.
It was a denunciation of both the so-called neocons and the liberal interventionists, and the policies they have tried over the many years that this version of Air Force One has been flying.
It was a scathing repudiation of decades of Republican and Democratic Party attempts at remaking the region - while the message to the governments in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates was emollient in nature as it lavished praise and avoided blame or admonishment.
It was watched nervously in Israel and Iran, which has re-engaged with the US government on a possible nuclear deal over the past two months.
The message was a radical departure - in rhetoric and tone at least - so it's worth quoting at length some of Mr Trump’s speech:
"Before our eyes a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts of tired divisions of the past and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence.
"And it's crucial for the wider world to note, this great transformation has not come from Western intervention, noise, or flying people in beautiful planes giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs.
"No, the gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation builders, neocons or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, so many other cities.
"Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought about by the people of the region themselves.
"The people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions and charting your own destinies in your own way.
"It's really incredible what you've done.
"In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built and the interventionalists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves.
"They told you how to do it, but they had no idea how to do it themselves.
"Peace, prosperity and progress ultimately came not from a radical rejection of your heritage but rather from embracing your national traditions and embracing that same heritage that you love so dearly and it's something only you could do.
"You achieved a modern miracle the Arabian way, that's a good way.
"Today, the Gulf nations have shown this entire region a path toward safe and orderly societies with improving quality of life flourishing economic growth, expanding personal freedoms and increasing responsibilities on the world stage.
"After so many decades of conflict, finally it is within our grasp to reach the future that generations before us could only dream about, a land of peace, safety harmony, opportunity, innovation and achievement right here in the Middle East."
The Abraham Accords
The US president lavished praise on the Saudi regime and its crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MbS).
He marvelled at the skylines and towers of Riyadh and other cities in the Arabian Peninsula, saying he knew a lot about towers and that these were extraordinary.
He got Gianni Infantino, the boss of FIFA and a frequent visitor to the White House, to stand up as he noted that Saudi Arabia will host the Word Cup in a few years time - like the US, which is hosting the tournament next year.
Who would have thought FIFA would be a midwife to a new order in US-Middle East relations?
But something is going on away from the usual conflict zones that spring to mind when the words "Middle East" are mentioned. Not that the grand strategy has been forgotten - far from it, it's just shifted somewhat.
Mr Trump still wants to build on the big foreign policy success of his first term: The Abraham Accords, bringing about normalised relations between Arab countries and Israel and by extension with the US.
The next big prize is getting Saudi Arabia to sign up to the accord, something they were reportedly close to doing prior to the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas against Israel.
Speaking in Saudi Arabia about the Abraham Accords, the US president said it is his "fervent hope, wish and even my dream" that Saudi Arabia will soon join the accords.
He said: "I think it will be a tremendous tribute to your country and it will be something that's really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East.
"I took a risk in doing them and they've been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined ... but it will be a special day in the Middle East, with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us and you'll be greatly honouring me and you'll be greatly honouring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East.
"I really think it's going to be something special, but you'll do it in your own time and that's what I want and that's what you want, and that's the way it's going to be."
Iran nuclear deal
Both the Biden administration and Israel blamed Iran, in part, for the 7 October 2023 attack.
The Trump administration does too, but it also blames Joe Biden.
It accuses him of empowering the Iranians by easing sanctions on oil exports to grease the diplomatic wheels in order to make progress on the nuclear deal - that is ensuring Iran does not get the capacity to make nuclear weapons to go on top of the ballistic missiles it has already developed.
For as long as those two Air Force One planes have been flying, the US has accused Iran of advancing its foreign policy goals by sponsoring proxy forces, such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
The US also accuses Iran of facilitating disruptive forces like Islamic State in Iraq and Syria by, for example, freeing prisoners like al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab Zarqawi into Iraq to radicalise the anti-US insurgency that had broken out there during the George Bush Junior’s presidency.
But over the past year, Iran has suffered a series of major reverses, including the deaths of senior militants in Hamas and Hezbollah by Israeli attacks, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria and the involvement of the US in direct attacks on the Houthis.
Most of all, Iran was directly attacked by Israel last October and lost its air defence systems as a result, leaving its nuclear facilities virtually undefended against a possible Israeli strike.
Middle East analysts, like Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, think the hard power-wrought facts on the ground, and Mr Trump’s use of energy and trade as levers of foreign policy, may have opened up a window to a possible deal on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Albeit a more limited one than the deal Mr Trump rejected when last in office.
To protect its oil sales to China, to protect its nuclear power ambitions and above all to protect its own existence, Mr Sadjadpour believes the Iranian regime may be open to a limited deal.
This, he said, would see Iran keep its nuclear energy capacities and allow it to sell enough oil to keep its internal economy ticking over - de-risking the possibility of a popular revolt.
But he added it would also involve the country giving up on nuclear weapons and pulling back from military attacks through proxies.
In his speech in Saudi Arabia, Mr Trump played up both the regime’s fear of its own people due to a stagnant economy and the possibility that it could face another round of harsh, military consequences if it does not do a deal with one, limited objective: no nuclear weapons capability.
As the US president put it: "While you have been constructing the world's tallest skyscrapers in Jeddah and Dubai, Tehran’s 1979 landmarks are crumbling into rubble and dust ... While the Arab states are focused on becoming pillars of regional stability and world commerce, Iran’s leaders have focused on stealing their people's wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad.
"The most tragic of all, they have dragged down an entire region with them.
"Countless lives were lost in the Iranian effort to maintain a crumbling regime in Syria, look what happened with Syria."
New Syrian leadership
Look indeed.
Whilst in Riyadh, Mr Trump met the man who has seized control of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the country’s interim president.
He has begun the process of normalising diplomatic relations with Syria and on Wednesday Mr Trump lifted sanctions (to the apparent surprise of US officials) against the country, saying it needs a chance to recover.
Mr Trump said he had been pressed on the matter by MbS and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, a key player in Syrian affairs (who had his own breakthrough moment last week, when the PKK, the Kurdish separatist movement, said it was giving up the armed struggle for good).
On Friday, the IMF announced that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had repaid all of Syria's $15 billion (€13 billion) loan to the fund, making it eligible for fresh funding.
Mr Trump called on the Syrians to follow the Saudi Arabian example, of finding their own way, at their own pace, to a peaceful, secure relationship with their neighbours.
"I say good luck Syria. You show us something very special - like they have done frankly in Saudi Arabia, OK?" he said.
Turning to the audience, he added: "They’re going to show us something special, very good people."
It's the kind of vintage Trump rhetoric we heard endlessly on the campaign trail.
Could it work in international relations in the Middle East? Who knows, but it is certainly a departure from what has come to appear the norm in US diplomatic communications to this region and its people.
Mr Trump also spoke, briefly, of a bright future for Lebanon, "which has been endlessly victimised by Hezbollah and their sponsor Iran".
Its new president and prime minster have given the country what Mr Trump called "the first real chance in decades of a more productive partnership with the United States".
It’s another country he has appointed a personal friend and golfer as US Ambassador - in this case Michael Issa, a banker and financier with an impressive track record in real estate financial restructuring.
Mr Issa is of Lebanese descent.
Working to end Gaza war
The one country that was mentioned very little in this grand sweep of the Middle East was Israel.
On the day he landed in Saudi Arabia, Hamas released the last surviving US citizen being held hostage in Gaza, Eden Alexander.
Mr Trump said in his speech that he is continuing work to get that war ended as soon as possible.
"It's a horrible thing that's taking place," he said, before quickly condemned the 7 October attack.
He said the people of Gaza are suffering horribly and deserve a better future, but added they won't get one as long as "their leaders choose to kidnap, torture and target innocent men women and children for political ends".
That was pretty much it, as far as Israel and the Palestinians are concerned, at least in the big speech.
Before this, when Mr Alexander had been released, Mr Trump used social media to say his return to Israel was "a step taken in good faith" by Hamas.
Some saw this as an implicit rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who may be becoming regarded more as an impediment to forging a lasting ceasefire and building out the Israeli-Palestinian corner of Mr Trump's grand vision for the Middle East.
The Washington Post reported remarks by Ilan Goldberg, chief policy officer of Washington-based liberal pro-Israeli lobby group J-Street, who said the second Trump administration is taking a very different approach to Israel compared to the first.
"As for Trump, his friends in the Gulf are showering him with deals and wins, when he looks at Benjamin Netanyahu and Itamar Ben Gvir's Israel, he sees only headaches" - including an "endless" war in Gaza, Mr Goldberg said.
He added the US president also sees Israeli political leadership "bent on sabotaging Iran talks", and an Israel that doesn't seem ready to make the political concessions that would be needed before it can further integrate into the region.
Yes, Mr Trump came back from this, his first planned trip abroad, with lots of swag, mostly in the shape of orders for US aircraft and aeroengines (a hugely valuable commodity), a massive arms deal with Saudi Arabia alongside promises of direct investment in US industry.
Qatari plane
Oh, and there was that fancy spec Boeing 747 that the Qatari royal family doesn't want any more.
The plane that the president would like to turn into a new Air Force One while the US presidency continues to wait on the delivery of a pair of new Air Force Ones from Boeing - at a contract price Mr Trump himself negotiated in his first term of $3.7 billion (though delays have pushed the cost to close to $5 billion now).
The Qatari jet is widely valued at $400 million - the list price of a new plane of this type - which you can't get because Boeing stopped making 747s two years ago.
Aviation Analysts Cirium told Reuters a second-hand 747-8 might fetch a quarter of that price, while a trader in VIP jets said the bespoke interior of the Qatari jet would be worth much more than the plane itself and the deep refit of the plane needed to raise it to near-Air Force One security levels would take so long, and cost so much, that it's doubtful if President Trump would get much use out of it in the remainder of his term (though Steve Bannon is adamant Mr Trump will run for a third term in 2028, no matter what the constitution says).
To critics at home and abroad it looks like a huge bribe.
But in the context of everything else that is going on in Mr Trump's Middle East diplomacy, it looks like the Arab way of doing business: big deals lubricated with personal gifts.
That would put it in the realm of political communication: when you are telling the region - and the wider world - that you want the Arabs, the Israelis and the Iranians to find a way to peaceful co-existence, their own way, a way based on prosperity and modernisation not war and division - and that the prize is not only regional security and wealth but the Americans getting out of their hard power involvement in the region's affairs, then accepting a gift that may never be used (and the cultural baggage that goes with it) may be a cheap price to pay for the bigger prize on offer.
