May 16, 2025

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Assessing President Trump’s Multi-Country Middle East Visit

Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP

U.S. President Donald Trump’s multi-country tour of the Middle East has received widespread attention, as his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have garnered more than $1 trillion in investments. Of note, Trump did not visit Israel during his trip, which brought criticism from pro-Israel camps within the U.S. government. The decision to bypass Israel on the trip has been perceived by some as a growing fissure between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, along with far-right ministers in his inner circle, seem intent on continuing the war in Gaza, which the Trump administration has been attempting to bring to a close. Just last week, the Israeli government approved a plan that would expand the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operations in Gaza, which will require mobilizing tens of thousands of reservists. Starvation is spreading throughout Gaza, and humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate, as accusations mount that Israel is using the denial of food and aid to Gazans as a weapon of war. As reported this week by the New York Times, some Israeli military officers have admitted, at least in private, that Gaza is on the brink of starvation and famine. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that “the only aid that should enter Gaza is for the purpose of voluntary migration,” while Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich confirmed his desire that the IDF occupy Gaza, commenting, “We are finally going to occupy the Gaza Strip. We will stop being afraid of the word ‘occupation.’”

During this stop in Saudi Arabia, President Trump announced that Saudi Arabia would be investing $600 billion in the U.S., while also offering a $142 billion arms package to Riyadh. In a speech, Trump laid out his vision of U.S. foreign policy by denigrating previous American attempts at nation building, saying, “in the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built...and the interventionalists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand.” His comments were a not-so-veiled shot across the bow at those, both within the U.S. and Israel, who would seek to scuttle his attempts at bringing about a new Iran nuclear deal and instead prefer a more aggressive and even kinetic approach to solving the situation with Tehran.

Another interesting part of Trump’s visit was a meeting brokered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) between Trump and the interim leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa. President Trump agreed to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, and after meeting al-Sharaa, the former leader of al-Qaeda in Syria and someone that had a $10 million bounty on his head until December, went on to call al-Sharaa a “young, attractive, tough guy” with a “very strong” past, who he believes has “a real shot at doing a good job.” There were a number of issues that Trump reportedly raised with al-Sharaa, including, at some point in the future, considering the recognition of Israel by joining the so-called Abraham Accords, normalization agreements that several countries (UAE, Sudan, Bahrain, and Morocco) have embarked upon with Israel. Other U.S. demands include the Syrian government jettisoning both foreign terrorist fighters and Palestinian militants, while also helping the U.S. to prevent an Islamic State (ISIS) resurgence and assume responsibility for ISIS camps in Northeast Syria.

In Qatar, President Trump met with Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, where they discussed a range of issues, including the ongoing war in Gaza. Qatar agreed to a deal wherein Doha would purchase 210 Boeing jets valued at approximately $96 million. The meeting highlighted the increasingly close relationship between Washington and Doha, which plays an important role as a major non-NATO U.S. ally. President Trump remarked: “We’ve never had a relationship with Qatar as strong as this.” Trump also spoke to troops at al Udeid, the largest U.S. military base in the region, which has been used as a launchpad for U.S. operations in the Middle East and elsewhere. Qatar has pledged, according to President Trump, to invest an additional $10 billion in al Udeid for upgrades and modernization.

On his final stop, President Trump landed in UAE, where upon arrival, Trump was met and greeted by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al Nayhan (MBZ), before traveling to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. The UAE is determined to become a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) and, the U.S. has a preliminary agreement with Abu Dhabi that will allow it to import approximately 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips, although there are concerns among some U.S. policymakers about these chips could make it into the hands of Washington’s competitors, namely China. Throughout his trip, President Trump has been dealing with other major U.S. foreign policy issues, speaking about the prospects of a potential nuclear deal with Iran, negotiations over which he termed “very serious” and which analysts are now suggesting are ready to continue to a more technical phase of talks. He also said that a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is critical to progress on ending that conflict. “Nothing is going to happen until Putin and I get together,” he said, to a gaggle of reporters aboard Air Force One while en route to UAE.