In May 2025, the US President Donald Trump embarked on a significant diplomatic tour of the Middle East visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This article will briefly touch on high level deals committed or announced during Trump’s recent visit to Middle East, what the White House says is over $2 trillion for the US economy in combined deals. This trip focused on emphasizing economic partnerships, defence deals/partnerships and technological collaboration, however, the core and critical issue of the region, that is, the occupation of Palestine and continued genocide by Israeli defence forces against Palestinian population, killing over 50,000 people and continued blockade of food and medical aid was not given the attention and seriousness it deserves.
Saudi Arabia
President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia commenced with a ceremonial welcome, featuring a procession of white Arabian horses escorting his motorcade, a gesture symbolizing the deepening ties between the two nations. According to The White House sources, Saudi Arabia agreed to $600 billion in investments, although some of the projects mentioned are already in progress while an additional 145 deals worth more than $300 billion were reportedly signed at an adjacent investor conference attended by several US billionaires and prominent business executives.
At the Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed a comprehensive strategic economic partnership. This agreement encompassed a $142 billion arms deal with more than a dozen US defence firms, collaborations in energy and defence, and initiatives in artificial intelligence (AI). Notably, US tech giants Nvidia and AMD committed to supplying semiconductors to Humain, a new Saudi AI company chaired by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, bolstering the Kingdom’s technological ambitions.
Some of key business partnerships announced include Humain’s deals with Global AI, Amazon, and Cisco, which will build an “AI zone” in Kingdom, to build network, servers and AI infrastructure to facilitate AI training models. Nvidia will sell top in the range 18,000 Blackwell artificial intelligence chips to Humain. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), an American semiconductor company, also announced a $10 billion deal with Saudi Kingdom to provide chips and software for AI data centres. Elon Musk announced that Saudi Arabia will use his Starlink internet satellite services for aviation and other areas. Moreover, over $2 billion in work by US firms in Kingdom’s infrastructure projects like King Salman International Airport and the Qiddiya City entertainment complex.
In a historic move, Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the first meeting between a sitting US president and a Syrian leader since 2000. Discussions centred on Syria’s potential inclusion in the Abraham Accords and the lifting of US sanctions, signalling a shift towards diplomatic engagement in the region.
Qatar
Upon arriving in Doha, President Trump engaged in talks with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. As per The White House sources, both countries agreed for investments between the two countries worth more than $243.5 billion with the potential to increase the investment to $1.2 trillion. The visit resulted in significant economic agreements, including Qatar Airways agreed to buy 210 Boeing jets worth $96 billion, a deal Trump hailed as “the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing.”
Additionally, defence contracts totalling over $10 billion were signed, enhancing Qatar’s counter-drone capabilities and expanding operations at Al Udeid Air Base. According to news, Qatar will spend $10 billion in a US military facility and purchase $42 billion in weapons from the US.
Another official has been quoted mentioning that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund had made an economic pledge to invest $500 billion in the US economy over the next ten years, but that argument has less footing on ground. Trump also participated in a ceremony transferring the hosting duties of the FIFA World Cup to the United States, symbolizing continued collaboration between the two nations.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
In Abu Dhabi, President Trump was honoured with the Order of Zayed, the UAE’s highest civilian award. He visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and engaged in discussions with Emirati leaders. US president Donald Trump pronounced more than $200 billion in business deals during his visit to the UAE. This also include a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to buy 28 Boeing aircrafts with GE engines.
A landmark agreement was announced to establish the largest AI data centre outside the United States in Abu Dhabi, in partnership with Emirati firm G42 and the US Department of Commerce, where the firm G42 commits building the facility that will cover 10 square miles and have a 5-gigawatt capacity. Capital investment numbers were not provided but believed that it will involve huge amounts of advanced chips to be transferred from US to UAE making US corporates like Nvidia the key beneficiaries for many years to come.
Broader geopolitical implications
President Trump’s tour underscored a transactional approach to foreign policy, prioritizing economic and technological partnerships over traditional alliances. His engagement with Gulf leaders, coupled with efforts to de-escalate tensions with Iran and Syria, signalled a strategic pivot in US diplomacy. Notably, Trump’s absence from Israel during the tour and his call for a Gaza ceasefire drew criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, highlighting shifting dynamics in regional relations.
Aljazeera reported that it is rare for US presidents to travel to the Middle East and not visit Israel, but this time it happened. Skipping Israel was seen as a reflection of the deteriorating ties between the US administration and the government of Israel, according to some political analysts. But as Trump was meeting with Arab leaders in the Gulf, Israel intensified its bombardment to destroy what was left of the Gaza, the Palestinian territory. No ceasefire was announced, despite reports of continuing talks in Doha. The visit also sparked domestic controversy, particularly regarding Trump’s acceptance of a $400 million luxury Boeing jet from Qatar. Critics, including Senator Chris Murphy, labelled the gift as the “definition of corruption,” raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest and national security implications.
In conclusion, President Trump’s May 2025 Middle East tour is seen as an economic and political success for the US, as it demonstrates its might, whilst, for the relevant Middle Eastern economies it may be an economic win, however, politically it comes at the cost of further loss of sovereignty, greater divide between leadership and the public sentiment, and demonstrates either a complicity or a weakness of Arab leadership to exert enough pressure to stop genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people.
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