Trump went on a tour of the Persian Gulf countries. What the media is writing
US President Donald Trump has embarked on a four-day tour, during which he will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The tour is expected to focus only on economic deals and will not raise security issues in the Middle East. In addition, in Qatar, Trump will receive a luxury plane as a gift, on which he will be able to make business trips. What the media write about the first major foreign trip of the head of the White House is in the Izvestia digest.
The New York Times: Trump has begun a tour of the Persian Gulf countries
US President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on the morning of May 13. This is his first stop on a four-day tour of the Persian Gulf, the first major foreign trip during his second term. Trump was met at the airport by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, along with an honor guard.
The New York Times
Prince Mohammed's presence signaled the special status enjoyed by Trump in Saudi Arabia. When President Joe Biden visited the country in 2022—after declaring that he would make the kingdom a "pariah" and before realizing that he needed his help to lower oil prices—the Crown Prince disparaged him, sending a relatively low-ranking delegation to meet him at the airport..
Trump will focus on signing business agreements with three countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He told the advisers that he wanted to make deals worth more than $1 trillion. These are expected to include investments in artificial intelligence companies and energy production, as well as multibillion-dollar purchases of weapons from American manufacturers.
Reuters: Trump's visit will be purely economic
During a four-day trip to the Middle East, Trump will focus more on economic deals than security crises. Accompanied by influential business leaders, including Elon Musk, he will first attend the Saudi-American Investment Forum in Riyadh, then Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, but will not visit Israel. This decision has sparked discussions about what place Tel Aviv occupies among Washington's priorities.
Reuters
In addition to efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, his administration is promoting a new mechanism to help the Gaza Strip after 19 months of war and is calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a new ceasefire agreement there. Over the weekend, American and Iranian negotiators met in Oman to discuss a potential deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program. Trump has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy does not work. With the exception of a possible trip to Turkey, these issues are not the main focus of Trump's planned visit to the Middle East.
Sources said that the United States and Saudi Arabia will not touch on the topic of normalizing relations between Riyadh and Israel, although this is Trump's most long-term geopolitical goal in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's disagreement with a permanent end to the war in the Gaza Strip or the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress unlikely in similar negotiations with Riyadh. The second and third stops in Qatar and the UAE will also be devoted to economic issues.
Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia's leader wants to compensate for oil losses
With the fall in oil prices, Saudi Arabia's financial dynamics have changed, and it has become in urgent need of money. To do this, the Crown Prince needs to establish relations with Trump and back it up with a dozen deals covering a variety of areas. The ultimate goal is to improve the country's image, attract investors, and overcome financial difficulties in transforming Saudi Arabia's economy.
Bloomberg
Many analysts now see prices around $65 per barrel for the foreseeable future. This is below what Saudi Arabia needs to balance its accounts. The country was forced to borrow more, and debt jumped by about $30 billion, to its highest level ever in the first quarter.
Deals with Trump may be important for the further development of Saudi Arabia. In addition, the Crown Prince told Trump that he was ready to help him realize his peacemaking ambitions. In addition to Ukraine and Gaza, it also includes other problem areas in the Middle East, such as Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. The Saudi leader also wants to steer Trump away from Israeli plans to strike Iran.
CNN: The United States will sell weapons to the UAE for $ 1.4 billion
The United States announced arms sales worth more than $1.4 billion to the United Arab Emirates a few days before Trump's visit to the country. According to the State Department, the deal includes Chinook helicopters, spare parts and support for F-16 fighter jets. The UAE will be the last stop during Trump's tour. The Emirates has committed to invest $1.4 trillion in American investments over 10 years.
CNN
The visit to the UAE is expected to lead to the announcement of a number of financial deals between the two countries, which will include investments focused on the development of artificial intelligence, semiconductors, manufacturing and energy. This year, Democratic lawmakers, who are in the minority in both houses of Congress, opposed the sale of weapons to the UAE.
On the day the helicopter sale was announced, Senator Chris Murphy said he would try to block the deal because of the $2 billion investment made by an Abu Dhabi-backed investment company in Trump's cryptocurrency venture.
NBC News: Trump will accept a luxury plane as a gift from Qatar
The Qatari royal family wants to give Trump a luxury jet, and Trump is ready to give up the old Air Force One board, despite his "America First" policy. The president praised Qatar for what he called a generous and welcome offer, and said the plane would one day become an exhibit in its presidential library, adding that he would not use it as a private citizen.
NBC News
"They're giving us a free plane," Trump said. "I could have said, 'No, no, no, don't give it to us. I want to pay you a billion or $400 million, or whatever it is." Or I could say, "Thank you very much." Do you understand?" Qatar's spokesman, Ali Al-Ansari, said in a statement on Sunday that the deal was still under consideration.
Earlier, Trump expressed disappointment that Boeing would be able to replace the current presidential aircraft no earlier than 2027. According to three aviation and intelligence experts, the transformation of the Qatari gift into Air Force One will require an overhaul that will take years and will cause possible security problems. It will have to be disassembled to make sure that there are no listening devices or other security vulnerabilities inside.
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