U.S. President Donald Trump visiting Gulf Arab states while crises flare in Gaza and Iran
The Hindu
Trump's Middle East trip focuses on business deals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and UAE amid regional tensions with Israel and Iran.
On his trip this week to the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, though his most pressing regional challenges concern two other countries: Israel and Iran.
After ending a ceasefire two months ago, Israel is intensifying the war in the Gaza Strip, where a blockade on food, medicine and other supplies is worsening a humanitarian crisis. And Iran, an enemy of Israel and a rival of Saudi Arabia, stands on the cusp of being able to develop nuclear weapons.
Yet Mr. Trump will focus his attention on three energy-rich nations home to existing or planned Trump-branded real estate projects — places where he aims to leverage American economic interests to do what he personally revels in: making business deals.
“This is his happy place,” said Jon B. Alterman, a senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. “His hosts will be generous and hospitable. They’ll be keen to make deals. They’ll flatter him and not criticize him. And they’ll treat his family members as past and future business partners”.
But Mr. Trump won’t be able to avoid altogether diplomacy on Gaza or Iran: The Gulf countries hosting him are also interested in easing the regional tensions that emanate from these two places.
“Trump can easily score a win by reassuring them of America’s strategic commitment to the region, demonstrating consistent messaging and generally rising above the fray,” analysts Elizabeth Dent and Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy wrote on Friday (May 9, 2025).
By not scheduling a trip to Israel during his first trip to the region during his second term as president, Mr. Trump is reinforcing a feeling in Israel that its interests may not be top of mind for him.
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