People's discontent makes it hard to lead the team again; Trump receives bad news—another major Middle Eastern country leads the way in breaking away.

People's discontent makes it hard to lead the team again; as the Iran war situation becomes a dilemma of retreat or advance, Trump receives more bad news.
The United Arab Emirates suddenly announced that it will officially withdraw from OPEC and the "OPEC+" alliance on May 1, ending its 60-year membership.
This is another Middle Eastern major power, after Saudi Arabia, leading the dismantling of the U.S. alliance, and Western allies like Canada are also showing signs of discontent.
The UAE's oil production base explained that the decision is based on the country's long-term strategic and economic vision, hoping to gain greater market flexibility through withdrawal to adapt to the constantly changing global market demands.
Translated into plain language, it means that due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf countries' oil exports are impacted, and the UAE wants to shake off OPEC's production quota restrictions and decide its oil exports independently.
As the third-largest oil producer in OPEC, the UAE's withdrawal will have a huge impact on global oil prices and on OPEC+.
While the UAE's move seems sudden, it has been in the making for a long time.
On March 18, UAE President's China affairs special envoy Khaled visited China, followed by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled's visit to China on April 12.
In just one month, UAE high-level officials visited China twice.
The discussions included bilateral relations and Middle Eastern issues, but whether there were other topics remains unknown, though the timing is suspicious and prompts speculation.
After the UAE's high-level visits to China twice within a month, the UAE Central Bank Governor Balama met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen and Federal Reserve officials, proposing a currency swap mechanism between the two countries.
UAE officials revealed that they told the U.S. that if they face a dollar shortage, they might settle oil trades and other transactions using other currencies.
The oil dollar system is complex, involving two main aspects: dollar settlement and the pricing power and physical output regulation of oil.
The latter has long depended on OPEC to help the U.S. maintain control.
Now, with the UAE leading the withdrawal, it signals to the world that OPEC is no longer a unified bloc.
If the UAE truly starts non-dollar settlement, even as a small pilot, it could trigger a demonstration effect, which would be a dangerous signal for the U.S.
Calculations show that the UAE is the second Middle Eastern country to break away from the U.S., after Saudi Arabia, the leader of OPEC.
During the Iran-U.S. war, Iran launched fierce attacks on Middle Eastern U.S. military bases, including the Saudi Sultan Air Force Base, the UAE Zayfara Air Force Base, the Bahrain Fifth Fleet headquarters, and the U.S. Central Command headquarters, almost none were spared.
Iran's missiles rained down, but U.S. casualties were disproportionately small.
These actions naturally upset Middle Eastern countries, which spent hundreds of billions of dollars buying U.S. military protection, only to find that the U.S. not only failed to protect them but also turned into a target.
Saudi Arabia confirmed that it approached Pakistan, the only nuclear-armed country in the Islamic world, to station a Pakistani Air Force squadron at Saudi airbases.
The Pakistani squadron, equipped almost entirely with Chinese-made aircraft from early warning planes to fighters, has proven itself in the 5.7 air combat.
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan already have a joint strategic defense agreement, so such cooperation is uncontroversial.
In other words, Saudi Arabia has quietly replaced its "American protection" with "Chinese protection."
Previously, Gulf countries only relied on the U.S., but now Saudi Arabia has taken the lead in finding a second way.
Once this route is established, U.S. protection fees in the Middle East may become harder to collect.
In fact, not only Middle Eastern countries are reconsidering; recently, Canada’s Defense Ministry announced it would suspend the purchase of 80 F-35 fighters from the U.S.
German Chancellor Mert criticized the U.S., saying it is being "humiliated" by Iran.
From the Middle East to Canada, these events point to the same trend: the U.S.-Iran conflict has revealed the true nature of the U.S. military.
Past allies paid protection fees because they believed the U.S. could and would fight; now they realize the U.S. is unwilling to fight seriously and may not even win, causing the U.S. to rapidly fall from its divine status.
Trump receives bad news—what he should worry about most now is not oil prices but trust.
Once trust is lost, no matter how much money is spent, it cannot be regained.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are not suddenly turning against the U.S.; they have repeatedly tested and accumulated disappointment, leading to their decision to start anew.
It must be admitted that the U.S.-Iran war is indeed a turning point; U.S. hegemony and the petrodollar are facing a major test from the Trump administration.