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Archive:May 2025 visit by Donald Trump to the Middle East

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Template:Afd-merge to Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Redirect Template:Infobox event Template:Donald Trump series From 13 to 16 May 2025, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, undertook his first major international trip of his second term, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump was joined by a Republican delegation and several business executives, including senior advisor Elon Musk. The four-day tour primarily focused on securing business deals and investments in the United States, which Trump claimed could reach as high as $4 trillion, as well as lifting sanctions on the transitional government of Syria.

Background

Planning

In April 2025, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, announced that President Donald Trump would visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in May, his second foreign trip of his second term after the funeral of Pope Francis.Template:Sfn The visit notably excluded Israel, though Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, met with Edan Alexander, a hostage who was released on May 12 in a deal between the United States and Hamas.Template:Sfn Trump later denied that Israel was deliberately excluded from the visit.Template:Sfn The following month, Axios reported that a Gulf Cooperation Council summit would be held during the visit.Template:Sfn

Newswires were excluded from traveling on Air Force One; the White House Correspondents' Association formally objected to the move.Template:Sfn

Negotiations

Leading up to the visit, the Trump administration set out to resolve the aftermath of the fall of the Assad regime, the Gaza war hostage crisis, the Russo-Ukrainian war, and Iran's nuclear program.Template:Sfn The administration intended to sign agreements on minerals and semiconductors.Template:Sfn Trump additionally proposed moving to have the Geographic Names Information System refer to the Persian Gulf as the "Arabian Gulf", increasing tensions with Iran by reviving the Persian Gulf naming dispute,Template:Sfn though plans to rename the gulf were later abandoned over Iranian opposition, according to CNN.Template:Sfn

Visit

Saudi Arabia (May 13–14)

File:President Trump Participates in an Arrival Ceremony, May 13, 2025.webm On May 12, Trump temporarily stopped at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk to refuel before going to Riyadh.Template:Sfn As he traveled to Saudi Arabia, he was interviewed by Sean Hannity of Fox News.Template:Sfn Trump met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman the following day, where he repeated his calls to increase Saudi Arabia's investment in the United States from Template:USD billion to Template:USD trillion;Template:Sfn the figure is approximately equal to Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product for a year and exceeds the Public Investment Fund's assets.Template:Sfn Trump and Mohammed signed a "strategic economic partnership" agreement that includes a Template:USD billionTemplate:Sfn letter of intent to improve defense capabilities, a memorandum of understanding with the United States Department of Justice and on energy resources, cooperations on diseases, and agreements between the Saudi Space Agency and NASA and between the government of Saudi Arabia and the National Zoological Park to establish a dedicated exhibit for the Arabian leopard.Template:Sfn The visit elevated Mohammed's standing within the Saudi government as King Salman, who did not appear during the Saudi visit, has largely receded from public view. In contrast to the 2017 Riyadh summit—when King Salman greeted Trump at King Khalid International Airport—Mohammed now handles such welcomes.Template:Sfn

Trump's visit coincided with the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, an event that included the chief executives of Blackstone, Citigroup, and Palantir Technologies.Template:Sfn During the forum, Nvidia and AMD announced that they would provide semiconductors to Humain, a Saudi artificial intelligence company, in a Template:USD billion project.Template:Sfn Elon Musk, an advisor to Trump, stated that the Saudi government had approved plans to use Starlink for aviation and maritime shipping and that he had shown Optimus robots to Trump and Mohammed.Template:Sfn Speaking at the forum, Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords—drawing silence from the audienceTemplate:Sfn—announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria,Template:Sfn and implored Iran to negotiate over its nuclear program.Template:Sfn Trump notably emphasized that "there could be no sharper contrast" between the constructive path being followed on the Arabian Peninsula and the "disaster unfolding" across the Gulf in Iran, noting how he intended to rename the Persian Gulf to the "Arabian Gulf".Template:Sfn DataVolt, a Saudi company, committed to invest Template:USD billion into U.S. energy infrastructure and data centers; in turn, American firms invested Template:USD billion into Saudi projects, including King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, and Qiddiya City. The announced deals amounted to approximately Template:USD billion in investments.Template:Sfn Trump attended a state dinner in Diriyah after speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum.Template:Sfn

Trump with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and President of Syria Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, 2025

Prior to going to Doha, Trump met with Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa, the first time that the leaders had met since a meeting was convened between Bill Clinton and Hafez al-Assad in Geneva in 2000,Template:Sfn and urged him to join the Abraham Accords.Template:Sfn Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took part in the meeting.Template:Sfn Trump attended a Gulf Cooperation Council summit with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar, Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain. Oman and the United Arab Emirates sent representatives, Asa'ad bin Tariq Al Said and Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan respectively.Template:Sfn In his opening remarks, Mohammed advocated for a conclusion to the Gaza war that would lead to the goals set forth in the Arab Peace Initiative.Template:Sfn

Qatar (May 14–15)

Trump and Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Lusail, Qatar, 2025

Trump arrived in Doha on May 14, where he met with Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.Template:Sfn Hours later, Qatar Airways signed an agreement to purchase as many as 210 planes from Boeing,Template:Sfn in what Trump described as "the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing".Template:Sfn The United States announced over Template:USD billion in deals with Qatar, including a Template:USD billion defense agreement with Raytheon for Qatari counter-drone capabilities, a Template:USD billion contract with General Atomics for MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicles, and Template:USD billion for Al Udeid Air Base.Template:Sfn Trump later attended a state dinner at Lusail PalaceTemplate:Sfn where he appealed to Qatar to improve Iran–United States relations.Template:Sfn After the dinner, Trump and Tamim gathered for a ceremony passing the hosting duties of the FIFA World Cup to the United States.Template:Sfn The following day, he participated in a business roundtable at St. Regis DohaTemplate:Sfn and visited Al Udeid Air Base.Template:Sfn

United Arab Emirates (May 15–16)

Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi on May 15, becoming the second serving U.S. president to visit the country.Template:Sfn He toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with Khaled bin Mohamed Al Nahyan.Template:Sfn The United Arab Emirates awarded Trump the Order of Zayed, the country's highest civil decoration.Template:Sfn During the visit, the United States Department of Commerce announced a deal with the Emirates and Emirati artificial intelligence firm G42 to establish the largest data center for artificial intelligence outside of the United States in Abu Dhabi.Template:Sfn Trump attended a business event and visited the Abrahamic Family House the following day before returning to the United States.Template:Sfn

On May 16, Trump acknowledged the famine in the Gaza Strip and promised to address the situation.[1]

Impact

Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia marked a "significant shift in U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East" in which the U.S. has no enemies, according to The Washington Post.Template:Sfn The New York Times noted that Trump's pledge to no longer give "lectures on how to live" to the Middle East denounced decades of U.S. foreign policy in the region.Template:Sfn His visit to Qatar was also viewed amid changes to the country's global reputation, including hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.Template:Sfn

Trump's decision to lift sanctions from Syria was seen as critical to rebuilding the country.Template:Sfn

Responses

Ethics concerns

Trump and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, 2025

The visit came amid business deals with the Trump family, including Trump-branded residential towers in DubaiTemplate:Sfn and in Jeddah, a Trump-branded golf resort in Qatar,Template:Sfn a deal between MGX Fund Management Limited and World Liberty Financial,Template:Sfn and investments by the Public Investment Fund in Jared Kushner's ventures.Template:Sfn On May 11, ABC News reported that Trump intended to accept a Boeing 747-8KB from the House of Thani, a move that posed ethical issues.Template:Sfn Republicans expressed national security concerns over the plane.Template:Sfn

Geopolitical response

The 2025 negotiations between the United States and Iran and Trump's lighter tone on Iran were praised by Bahrain's Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; following an attack on Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran in 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Iran, though it has attempted to restore them.Template:Sfn Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei condemned Trump's critical remarks about Iran during the visit, referring to him as a liar.Template:Sfn The New York TimesWelcome. This is a talk page, and is for the discussion of the contents of the content page connected to this talk page.s Farnaz Fassihi noted that the visit accentuated the belief that Iran has been economically held back.Template:Sfn

Celebrations in Syria were held following Trump's announcement that he would lift sanctions on the country.Template:Sfn

Business deals

The United States House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party criticized a planned agreement to sell semiconductors to countries in the Middle East, viewing it as a potential vulnerability for China to leverage.Template:Sfn

Notes

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References

  1. ↑ "Trump Says 'a Lot of People Are Starving' in Gaza and the U.S. Wants to Help". The New York Times. May 16, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/world/europe/trump-gaza-starvation-famine-us-israel-aid.html. 

Works cited

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Further reading

Template:Second presidency of Donald Trump Template:Marco Rubio Template:Elon Musk Template:Saudi Arabia–United States relations Template:Syria–United States relations Template:United Arab Emirates–United States relations

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