CairoUS President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for his first foreign tour since returning to the White House, with the mission of closing pompous trade and investment agreements from a setting ideal for him: the petromonarchies of the Gulf. Trump's trip, which will last until Friday and includes Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, comes, however, at a time of Strong regional instability due to Israel's war on Gaza and tensions with Iran, which will also mark its agenda.
Trump's transactional and eminently business-like approach to foreign policy fits perfectly with the practices of the Gulf monarchies, which will welcome the US president and his entourage with a red carpet. During the tour, billion-dollar investments and purchases benefiting the United States are expected to be publicly and ostentatiously announced, while the thorniest political issues will be discussed more privately.
One of the surprises of Trump's tour is that it does not include a stop in Israel, although Benjamin's government Netanyahu has threatened to launch a full-scale invasion of Gaza. and accelerate the expulsion of the population if there is no agreement in the coming days with Hamas, which has taken the opportunity to announce that they will release the last living American hostage they are holdingHowever, the war and the future of Gaza are expected to be a key topic of Trump's trip.
However, the US leader's arrival has not deterred Tel Aviv. Trump's trip to Riyadh coincided with the Israeli bombing of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which killed two people, including Palestinian journalist Hasan Eslaih. Eslaih was being treated at this hospital, the largest in southern Gaza, for injuries sustained in another Israeli attack on April 7, which killed three other journalists who were in a tent next to the hospital.
Another sensitive issue Trump will address during the trip is the negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran's nuclear program, which the Gulf monarchies hope will be successful. The latest round of talks took place on Sunday, five days after Trump announced a truce with the Houthi rebels in Yemen, longed for by almost the entire region. As proof of the high stakes, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar in recent days, and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer has met with Trump.
The most substantial part of the tour is expected to be the one with Saudi Arabia. In recent years, Washington and Riyadh have tried to reach a major agreement on defense, trade, and energy that would include the normalization of relations with Israel. But with this last variable out of the equation due to the war on Gaza, Trump seems willing to move forward on the rest, and Saudi Arabia is expected to at least announce multi-billion-dollar investments in the United States, albeit over a sufficiently long period of time so that they won't necessarily materialize in the long run.
For now, the goodwill has materialized in a Saudi-US investment forum, which began with a video celebrating the long history between the United States and the golfing state. In the front row were the executives of the investment funds Blackrock and Blackstone, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al Jadaan, and Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih. The latter stated in his opening remarks that "investment and business opportunities in the kingdom have expanded and multiplied enormously."
"A political success for Saudi Arabia"
"From the Saudi perspective, it's a major political success that Trump is returning to the country on his first trip abroad, further cementing Saudi Arabia's position and status as a leader in the Arab and Muslim world and as the largest player in the Palestinian issue," says Umer Karim, a specialist in King Faisal's Saudi decisions. "For the Trump administration, the key objective will be to secure the largest possible investment commitments," he believes.
The US president's visit to the United Arab Emirates is expected to be even more marked by business, particularly given Abu Dhabi's strong commitment to the development of artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies in sectors such as energy. Although it maintains a lower public profile politically, Abu Dhabi has the most aggressive foreign policy in the Middle East and is the closest ally of Washington and Israel—along with Bahrain—on issues such as the future of Gaza due to its fierce opposition to Hamas.
Qatar, the country with the strongest security ties with the United States in the region, has been the main mediator between Israel and Hamas, along with Egypt, and in the days leading up to Trump's trip, it has redoubled efforts with Washington and Cairo to advance a new truce agreement between the parties that includes the entry of aid. Although it could take a backseat, Doha is also expected to continue trying to shape Washington's policy toward the new Syrian government to at least ease its sanctions.
Qatar gives Trump a "flying palace" to replace Air Force One.
Donald Trump isn't doing anything. Nor is he reluctant to accept the most valuable gift ever offered to an American president: a high-end Boeing 747 from the Qatari royal family to replace the presidential plane, Air Force One. Critics who consider it corruption and bribery have been in vain: the Republican has boasted about the gift, arguing that it's a savings for the American taxpayer. The announcement coincides with Trump's visit this week to the petromonarchies of the Persian Gulf. "The fact that the Department of Defense is receiving a free gift of a 747 to temporarily replace Air Force One, in a transparent and public transfer, so upsets the corrupt Democrats that they insist we paid many millions of dollars for the aircraft," Trump said Sunday in a post on his Truth Social network. This came after the Gulf emirate attempted to deflect media reports about the gift, in a statement saying the deal was not finalized.
According to ABC, the jet, a luxury jumbo jet described as a "flying palace," is valued at $400 million. The US president will use it as the new Air Force One, and it will then be transferred to his foundation. The network has revealed that Trump visited the opulent jet in February, when he was flown to Palm Beach Airport, where he has one of his private residences. If the gift ultimately goes through, the jumbo jet will be transferred to the US Air Force so the military can make the required security modifications. US Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington have legally endorsed the gift, after the Department of Justice and White House legal advisors certified that it is not conditioned on any official act, and therefore they do not consider it a bribe. These lawyers drafted an analysis for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who reiterated that the plane did not violate federal laws prohibiting U.S. government officials from accepting gifts from foreign states or royalty. In fact, according to sources cited by ABC, Bondi interprets it as a donation to the U.S. Air Force, which will then be transferred to Trump's presidential library foundation, not directly to him.
But this argument hasn't convinced critics. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has mocked Trump's main campaign slogan: "There's nothing like Air Force One giving you Qatar for ' America first .' It's not just a bribe; it's premium foreign influence with extra legroom."
