Live updates: Follow the latest on Trump's Gulf trip
This week, US President Donald Trump makes his first major official trip overseas since returning to office in January. That the visit should be to three Arab Gulf capitals – Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi – signifies the strength of ties the US shares with this part of the world. It is telling of the region’s standing in Washington’s estimation and the priority that the US accords to the Middle East.
Friendly US-Gulf ties, though, are not a recent development. US-Gulf partnerships date back decades and have been mutually beneficial and able to weather global storms. For this administration, partnerships are already in place. Riyadh was Mr Trump’s first official port of call during his first presidential term, too. And one of the most significant achievements of his first term was to help create the Abraham Accords framework with Israel and the UAE and Bahrain, later joined by Morocco and Sudan.
Since Mr Trump’s last visit as US President, however, the region has changed dramatically. The geopolitical calculus in some cases has seen a near-complete overhaul.
Some of the altered realities that did not exist the last time he was in office include the ramifications of Hamas's attack on Israel in October 2023, Israel’s ensuing wars in Gaza and Lebanon, continued attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the collapse of Bashar Al Assad’s government in Syria and Iran’s subsequently weakened state due to the degradation of its armed proxies, including Hezbollah.
Despite these profound regional changes, Mr Trump’s visit will underscore a basic fact that both the Gulf and the US are committed to remaining strong partners and further bolstering ties. So, even as the major geopolitical issues remain unresolved – the occupation of Palestine and siege of Gaza, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and instability in the Levant caused by a complex matrix of unsettled issues – the US and its Gulf partners understand the value and benefits of regional security and its link to stability and economic prosperity.
Discussions around the security architecture of the region are expected this week. Furthermore, as stability and prosperity of countries becomes ever more interdependent, discussions on economic ties and joint projects will also be a feature. And they won't be in just one direction.
In this context, investment deals across a wide range of sectors are being formalised that are likely to yield benefits to the region’s evolving economies as well as to the US.
For example, the UAE has in recent years invested heavily in AI, both domestically and internationally – be it in health care, transportation, education, climate mitigation, and a number of other sectors. As recently as March, the Emirates announced a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework in the US, across several sectors including AI, semiconductors, manufacturing and natural gas.
The UAE’s determination to use technology to advance its own economy and society of more than 10 million residents is finding acclaim elsewhere in the world.
On Thursday, Microsoft president Brad Smith told a US Senate hearing about the stellar role being played by AI apps in Abu Dhabi to make day-to-day functioning, such as renewing driving licences, easier for the emirate’s residents. “We need to bring this to America,” Mr Smith told officials. Microsoft has been partnering with Emirati entities to realise AI ambitions and potential, which includes a $1.5 billion investment in the AI and cloud company G42.
During his trip to the Gulf, Mr Trump is expected to discuss with Washington’s partners long-term solutions to unresolved geopolitical issues that have troubled the world for decades.
It can be hoped that economic pacts that further strengthen the ties between the US and its three Gulf partners pacts will be on the agenda – and could well be to the wider benefit of the whole region.
