Four main reasons why Trump wants to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates
Yemen
Yamanat
Amir Rawash
The first foreign destination of an American president carries initial messages to Washington’s allies and adversaries alike. Donald Trump, who has always seen the world through the eyes of a businessman, sees this as a good opportunity to make deals.
During his first term, Trump did not adhere to a tradition that American presidents had followed for many decades, preferring to start by visiting the closest neighbors, Canada, Mexico or European countries, in light of Washington’s strategic interests in the “Old Continent”.
Then, in May 2017, the US presidential plane, Air Force One, landed in Saudi Arabia for Trump to meet with key allies in the Middle East, celebrate deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and participate in the traditional “Ardha” dance, along with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
After his historic return to the White House last January, Trump began his foreign visits with a tour of the Gulf, which he began in Riyadh, noting that he had visited the Vatican last month, on an unexpected trip to attend the funeral of the late Pope Francis.
Omani academic specializing in Gulf affairs Abdullah Baaboud told BBC News Arabic that the US president is aware of the economic and political weight of the Gulf region, in light of its growing influence, regionally and globally, and the capacity of its countries to inject huge investments.
He adds that the stability of the region, its strategic location and the regional and international interactions of the Gulf States give it “a role that exceeds its size and capabilities”.
Huge business deals
When Trump revealed his plans for the tour last March, he said he would prioritize visiting the Gulf with the aim of striking trade deals with its rich countries. He said his selection followed promises of deals worth “hundreds of billions of dollars” that would benefit American businesses.
Baaboud says: “The Gulf region’s investments, cash reserves and sovereign wealth funds help it play a major role in the global economy. »
Faced with the challenges facing the American economy, Trump realizes that this region can help him attract “a lot of money and investment to the United States”, according to the Omani researcher.
After visiting Saudi Arabia in 2017, Trump boasted of deals worth more than $450 billion, including military sales worth $110 billion.
But this time, Trump hopes to strike deals with the Saudis worth nearly a trillion dollars. Additionally, the White House said the UAE is committed to a 10-year “investment framework” in the United States, worth up to $1.4 trillion.
Trump is focused on making “immediate gains” from his Gulf tour, according to Hassan Mneimneh, a researcher specializing in American and Middle East affairs living in Washington.
Mneimneh told BBC News Arabic that in light of Trump’s “trade war” against China and other countries, he must show that “deals are flowing to the United States” in order to prove the success of his policies.
Middle East crises
Currently, the future of the Gaza Strip after the end of the war and Iran’s nuclear program appear to be among the most important issues in American foreign policy. Gulf allies play a leading role in both areas.
Trump shocked the world, days into his second term, by declaring that the United States wanted to control Gaza to make it the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Ideas discussed include expelling most of the Gaza Strip’s population of around 2.1 million, with the cost borne by “neighboring countries with great wealth.”
Trump’s plan attracted widespread criticism and Arab countries proposed an alternative vision for rebuilding the Gaza Strip, but the United States and Israel opposed it.
Baaboud hopes that Trump, during his tour which ends on Friday, will seek financial support for the reconstruction of the war-devastated Gaza Strip.
But there is one issue that may be more pressing for the US president, according to Baaboud, who says Trump will focus on “asking the Gulf states to intervene to free the remaining hostages held in Gaza.”
Qatar, home to the largest US airbase in the Middle East, is participating in mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire between the two sides and the release of the hostages.
Amid regional repercussions from the Gaza war, the United States recently increased its presence in the Middle East, launching intensive airstrikes against the Ansar Allah Houthi movement in Yemen, after the Houthis targeted ships in the Red Sea, justifying this with their support for the Palestinians.
About a week before Trump’s visit, the Sultanate of Oman brokered a truce between Washington and the Houthis.
Researcher Mneimneh believes that Riyadh most likely asked Washington to stop its airstrikes on Yemen before the US president’s arrival in the region.
As for Tehran’s nuclear issue, Trump threatened to bomb Iran if an agreement was not reached on this subject.
“There are two ways to deal with Iran: either militarily or by reaching an agreement,” Trump said in an interview with the American channel “Fox News” last March, indicating that he preferred “to reach an agreement”.
The US State Department said in an April 30 statement that “the Iranian regime continues to fuel conflict in the Middle East, expand its nuclear program, and support its terrorist agents and partners.”
However, there appears to be a US-Iran desire to avoid entering into a direct war, with the Sultanate of Oman serving as a mediator to reach a settlement between them.
The growing influence of the Gulf on a global scale
Saudi Arabia has become a mediator between the United States, Russia and Ukraine. Last February, Riyadh hosted discussions between US and Russian officials on ways to end the war in Ukraine – without kyiv participating in these discussions.
This meeting, the first of its kind between Washington and Moscow since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, seemed to mark the end of Western efforts to isolate Russia.
In March, Saudi Arabia hosted delegations from the United States, Russia and Ukraine in separate rounds of negotiations.
The meeting of U.S. and Ukrainian officials in Jeddah was the first meeting between the two sides since a verbal altercation between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in late February. The continuation of discussions in Riyadh, which the Ukrainians described as “fruitful”, could have helped to ease differences between kyiv and Washington.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates also managed to mediate between the Russians and Ukrainians to reach prisoner-of-war exchange deals.
Academic Baaboud says Gulf states have gained political and economic influence through their role in managing regional and global crises, in addition to their financial capabilities and enormous oil and natural gas reserves.
He emphasizes that the United States’ competitors, including China, are aware of the importance of this region and that Washington therefore wishes to strengthen its relations with Gulf leaders.
Normalization opportunities between Saudi Arabia and Israel
During his first term, Trump achieved a historic feat by brokering normalization agreements between Israel and four Arab countries: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
While the ongoing war in Sudan has affected normalization negotiations, the other three countries have joined Egypt and Jordan in establishing diplomatic relations with Israel.
Saudi Arabia, a very influential Arab and Islamic country, does not yet officially recognize the State of Israel.
A senior Saudi official told the BBC last year that an agreement between the two sides was “imminent”, before Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
After Trump indicated that Riyadh may not require the creation of an independent Palestinian state to reach a deal, Saudi Arabia confirmed that “there are no diplomatic relations with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.”
Observers believe that this issue of normalization is currently sensitive for Saudi Arabia.
Baaboud says that as the war in Gaza continues, Saudi Arabia appears unwilling to discuss the issue during Trump’s visit.
But the researcher expected the US president to seek deals between Israel and other Gulf countries during his second presidential term. There is no doubt that any agreement including Saudi Arabia will represent a major change in the region and that its consequences will be broader.
Source: BBC
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