Trump in Saudi Arabia: Deals and dances at the Gulf summit!

Trump in Saudi Arabia: Deals and dances at the Gulf summit!

US President Donald Trump began his trip to the Gulf region today, with Saudi Arabia as his first stop. This trip, which also includes stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, focuses on economic agreements and potential business deals. Trump receives a warm welcome from his hosts in Saudi Arabia with the aim of securing significant economic agreements. It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia was the destination of its first major foreign trip back in 2017, also with a focus on investment commitments to the US worth “hundreds of billions of dollars”.

In preparation for that trip, Trump said he had proposed the Saudis pay $1 trillion to American companies. But according to reports, many of the “deals” announced at the time were not realized. The topics Trump will address during his stay include, among others, US arms exports to Saudi Arabia and large-scale Saudi investment projects to take place in both the US and the Gulf region. Part of these investments should flow into artificial intelligence and the mining of rare earths. A central goal of Trump is to bind Saudi Arabia more closely to the USA in order to counteract China's dominance in this area.

Social reception ceremony

While in Riyadh, Trump showed a social side and took part in the traditional Saudi sword dance, the Ardah. The reception was characterized by pomp: In addition to Trump and King Salman, who took an active part in the dance at the age of 81, other high-ranking members of the US delegation, such as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, were also present. In contrast, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus and Gary Cohn were more reserved. The sword dance includes hundreds of men and boys dancing in impressive formations and conveys a picture of Saudi tradition and culture.

An economic highlight of the trip is the signed agreement on arms sales to Saudi Arabia, which is worth $110 billion and could reach up to $350 billion over the next decade. The White House press secretary called this military deal the largest single arms deal in U.S. history. Trump is expected not to dwell on domestic issues during his stay in Saudi Arabia, but to focus entirely on economic and international cooperation.

Expected destinations of the trip

Trump had originally planned to meet Vladimir Putin during this trip and promote the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. However, these issues no longer seem to be in focus. Instead, Saudi Arabia could demand that Trump make progress toward closer exchanges with Israel, which could involve large investments. According to Middle East expert Dennis Ross, economic incentives are crucial to US engagement under Trump.

After two days in Riyadh, Trump will travel to Israel and then visit the Vatican, the NATO summit in Brussels and the G-7 meeting in Sicily.

For further information read the articles from tagesschau.de and world.de.