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2025 visit by Donald Trump to the Middle East

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2025 visit by Donald Trump to the Middle East
Part of Second presidency of Donald Trump
Trump with Mohammed bin Salman in the Royal Palace
DateMay 13–16, 2025 (2025-05-13 – 2025-05-16)
Location
MotiveDeals

Donald Trump, the 47th president of the United States, began embarking on a four-day visit to the Middle East on May 13, 2025. He has visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

Background

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Planning

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In April 2025, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, announced that Trump would visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in May, his second foreign trip of his second term after the funeral of Pope Francis.[1] The visit notably excluded Israel, though Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, met with Edan Alexander, a hostage who was released on May 12 in a deal between the United States and Hamas.[2] Trump later denied that Israel was deliberately excluded from the visit.[3] The following month, Axios reported that a Gulf Cooperation Council summit would be held during the visit.[4]

Newswires were excluded from traveling on Air Force One; the White House Correspondents' Association formally objected to the move.[5]

Negotiations

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Leading up to the visit, the Trump administration set out to resolve the aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime, the Gaza war hostage crisis, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and Iran's nuclear program.[6] The administration intended to sign agreements on minerals and semiconductors.[7] Trump additionally proposed moving to have the Geographic Names Information System refer to the Persian Gulf as the "Arabian Gulf", increasing tensions with Iran by reviving the Persian Gulf naming dispute,[8] though plans to rename the gulf were later abandoned over Iranian opposition, according to CNN.[9]

Visit

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Saudi Arabia (May 13–14)

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Trump in the arrival ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2025

On May 12, Trump temporarily stopped at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk to refuel before going to Riyadh.[10] As he traveled to Saudi Arabia, he was interviewed by Sean Hannity of Fox News.[11] Trump met with Mohammed bin Salman the following day, where he repeated his calls to increase Saudi Arabia's investment in the United States from US$600 billion to US$1 trillion;[12] the figure is approximately equal to Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product for a year and exceeds the Public Investment Fund's assets.[13] Trump and Mohammed signed a "strategic economic partnership" agreement that includes a US$142 billion[14] letter of intent to improve defense capabilities, a memorandum of understanding with the United States Department of Justice and on energy resources, cooperations on diseases, and agreements between the Saudi Space Agency and NASA and between the government of Saudi Arabia and the National Zoological Park to establish a dedicated exhibit for the Arabian leopard.[15] The visit elevated Mohammed's standing within the Saudi government as Salman, who did not appear during the Saudi visit, has largely receded from public view. In contrast to the 2017 Riyadh summit, Mohammed greeted Trump at King Khalid International Airport, rather than Salman.[16]

Trump's visit coincided with the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, an event that included the chief executives of Blackstone, Citigroup, and Palantir Technologies.[17] During the forum, Nvidia and AMD announced that they would provide semiconductors to Humain, a Saudi artificial intelligence company, in a US$10 billion project.[18] Elon Musk, an advisor to Trump, stated that the Saudi government had approved plans to use Starlink for aviation and maritime shipping and that he had shown Optimus robots to Trump and Mohammed.[19] Speaking at the forum, Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords—drawing silence from the audience[20]—announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria,[21] and implored Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program.[22] DataVolt, a Saudi company, committed to invest US$20 billion into U.S. energy infrastructure and data centers; in turn, American firms invested US$2 billion into Saudi projects, including King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, and Qiddiya. The announced deals amounted to approximately US$283 billion in investments.[14] Trump attended a state dinner in Diriyah after speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum.[23]

Prior to going to Doha, Trump met with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the first time that the leaders had met since a meeting was convened between Bill Clinton and Hafez al-Assad in Geneva in 2000,[24] and urged him to join the Abraham Accords.[25] Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took part in the meeting.[26] Trump attended a Gulf Cooperation Council summit with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. Oman and the United Arab Emirates sent representatives, Asa'ad bin Tariq Al Said and Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan respectively.[27] In his opening remarks, Mohammed advocated for a conclusion to the Gaza war that would lead to the goals set forth in the Arab Peace Initiative.[28]

Qatar (May 14–15)

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Trump arrived in Doha on May 14, where he met with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.[29] Hours later, Qatar Airways signed an agreement to purchase as many as 210 planes from Boeing,[30] in what Trump described as "the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing".[31] The United States announced over US$243 billion in deals with Qatar, including a US$1 billion defense agreement with Raytheon for Qatari counter-drone capabilities, a US$2 billion contract with General Atomics for MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicles, and US$38 billion for Al Udeid Air Base.[32] Trump later attended a state dinner at Lusail Palace[33] where he appealed to Qatar to improve Iran–United States relations.[34] After the dinner, Trump and Tamim gathered for a ceremony passing the hosting duties of the FIFA World Cup to the United States.[35] The following day, he participated in a business roundtable at St. Regis Doha[36] and visited Al Udeid Air Base.[37]

United Arab Emirates (May 15)

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Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi on May 15, becoming the second serving U.S. president to visit the country.[38] He toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan.[39] The United Arab Emirates awarded Trump the Order of Zayed, the country's highest civil decoration.[40] During the visit, the United States Department of Commerce announced a deal with the Emirates and Emirati artificial intelligence firm G42 to establish the largest data center for artificial intelligence outside of the United States in Abu Dhabi.[41]

Impact

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Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia marked a "significant shift in U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East" in which the U.S. has no enemies, according to The Washington Post.[42] The New York Times noted that Trump's pledge to no longer give "lectures on how to live" to the Middle East denounced decades of U.S. foreign policy in the region.[43] His visit to Qatar was also viewed amid changes to the country's global reputation, including hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[44]

Trump's decision to lift sanctions from Syria was seen as critical to rebuilding the country.[45]

Responses

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Ethics concerns

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The visit came amid business deals with the Trump family, including Trump-branded residential towers in Dubai[46] and in Jeddah, a Trump-branded golf resort in Qatar,[47] a deal between MGX Fund Management Limited and World Liberty Financial,[48] and investments by the Public Investment Fund in Jared Kushner's ventures.[49] On May 11, ABC News reported that Trump intended to accept a Boeing 747-8KB from the House of Thani, a move that posed ethical issues.[50] Republicans expressed national security concerns over the plane.[51]

Geopolitical response

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Negotiations between the United States and Iran and Trump's lighter tone on Iran were praised by Bahrain's Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; following an attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Iran, though it has attempted to restore them.[52] Celebrations in Syria were held following Trump's announcement that he would lift sanctions on the country.[53]

Business deals

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The United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party criticized a planned agreement to sell semiconductors to countries in the Middle East, viewing it as a potential vulnerability for China to leverage.[54]

Notes

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  1. ^ Trump briefly landed in the United Kingdom for a refueling stop.

References

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  1. ^ Friedman 2025.
  2. ^ Keller-Lynn 2025.
  3. ^ Wang & Viser 2025a.
  4. ^ Ravid 2025.
  5. ^ Grynbaum 2025.
  6. ^ Ravid & Basu 2025.
  7. ^ Dwoskin 2025.
  8. ^ Fassihi 2025.
  9. ^ Waldenberg 2025.
  10. ^ "Donald Trump lands at UK air base to refuel". BBC News.
  11. ^ Tucker 2025a.
  12. ^ Broadwater 2025a.
  13. ^ Nereim 2025a.
  14. ^ a b Broadwater, Nereim & Swan 2025.
  15. ^ Broadwater 2025b.
  16. ^ Naar 2025a.
  17. ^ Nereim 2025b.
  18. ^ El Chmouri & King 2025.
  19. ^ El Chmouri & Al-Rashdan 2025.
  20. ^ Nereim 2025c.
  21. ^ Swan & Hubbard 2025.
  22. ^ George 2025a.
  23. ^ Vazquez 2025.
  24. ^ George 2025b.
  25. ^ Cheeseman 2025.
  26. ^ Naar & Liston 2025.
  27. ^ Nereim 2025d.
  28. ^ Nereim 2025e.
  29. ^ Naar 2025c.
  30. ^ Al-Rashdan & Johnsson 2025.
  31. ^ Broadwater 2025c.
  32. ^ Broadwater & Swan 2025.
  33. ^ Wang & Viser 2025b.
  34. ^ Svitek 2025.
  35. ^ Tucker 2025b.
  36. ^ Broadwater 2025d.
  37. ^ Zhuang 2025.
  38. ^ Naar 2025d.
  39. ^ Naar 2025e.
  40. ^ Broadwater 2025e.
  41. ^ Swanson 2025b.
  42. ^ Viser & Birnbaum 2025.
  43. ^ Nereim 2025f.
  44. ^ Shear, Rasgon & Panja 2025.
  45. ^ Hubbard 2025.
  46. ^ Nereim & Lipton 2025.
  47. ^ Brown & Kalin 2025.
  48. ^ Yaffe-Bellany 2025.
  49. ^ Dagher 2025.
  50. ^ Haberman, Schmitt & Thrush 2025.
  51. ^ Wise & Linskey 2025.
  52. ^ Naar 2025b.
  53. ^ Loveluck & Zakaria 2025.
  54. ^ Swanson 2025a.

Works cited

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Further reading

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