12 May 2025, 07:38
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Getty
The US president is due to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE this week as he eyes increased US investment.
Trump is due to arrive in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Tuesday 13 May, meeting the country’s de factor leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the first major foreign trip of his second presidency.
He is then due to attend a summit of Gulf leaders in the city on 14 May, where he will then travel to Qatar that same day.
He will end his three-day tour in the UAE on 15 May.
The president’s tour will involve discussions on trade and investment with Gulf allies.
Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia was due to be the first foreign trip of his second term in the White House – this was prior to the death of Pope Francis, which meant Trump attended the funeral in Rome towards the end of April.
There are no plans to visit Israel amid rising tensions over Gaza war.
The Middle East tour is mainly a repeat of his first international trip in 2017.
Trump’s discussions in Saudia Arabia, Qatar and the UAE will involve several topics including oil and trade, investment, regional conflicts in Israel-Gaza and Yemen, as well as negotiations over the Iran nuclear programme among other issues.
The US president has already announced Saudia Arabia’s commitment to invest $1trn into the US economy and is hoping to secure lucrative investments on the visit.
A Saudi-US investment forum on 13 May in Riyadh will feature CEOs from BlackRock, Palantir, Citigroup, IBM, Qualcomm, Alphabet, and Franklin Templeton.
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Alamy
‘Long shadow’
The visiting countries may also want to discuss access to advanced US semiconductor exports.
Saudi Arabia will likely wish to secure a deal on civilian nuclear infrastructure – this has previously been linked to the country’s normalisation of relations with Israel.
However, the Trump administration has outlined the two issues are no longer linked – in a departure from previous policy.
The Israel-Gaza conflict will cast a long shadow over the negotiations, with Saudi Arabia insisting that it will not establish ties with Israel unless a clear path to a two-state solution is outlined.
Additionally, many Middle Eastern nations have strongly opposed a proposal that began with Trump that would see Palestinians expelled from Gaza and resettled in other Arab countries.
Trump’s important tariffs have massively disrupted global trade, the US economy and confidence itself.
US economic output fell in the first three months of this year – its first fall in three years.
The economic “deals will further integrate the Saudi and US economies together, joint ventures in the kingdom, in the United States, procurements of American weapons and goods,” Ali Shihabi, a Saudi commentator and author with close ties to the Saudi government, told the BBC.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund already has numerous investments in the US, including Uber, Electronic Arts, and electric car firm Lucid.
The UAE had committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade – across sectors such as AI, semiconductors, energy and manufacturing.
This was announced by the White House in March following the UAE’s national security advisor’s, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, talks with Trump in Washington.
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‘Big investments’
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will reportedly agree to purchase more than $100bn of US arms and other military items.
The US has been an established arms supplier to Saudi Arabia – yet in 2021 the former Biden administration ceased selling Riyadh offensive weapons – citing concerns about the country’s role in the conflict with Yemen.
The Biden White House resumed the sales of these weapons last year.
It was reported at this time that the US was seeking Saudi assistance to help put an end to the war in Gaza and support its future reconstruction.
Artificial intelligence is another topic that will form part of negotiations during the president’s visit to the Middle East.
The discussions are likely to focus on securing increased Gulf investment in US tech companies and enhancing the region’s access to advanced American semiconductor technology.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been investing billions of dollars into tech and AI sectors as they aim to move away from their economy’s reliance on oil.
“President Trump is looking for a headline of big investments in America, and he will get that from this trip,” added Mr Shihabi.