Trump seeks mega deals in Middle East charm offensive

This is Donald Trump's second foreign trip during his second term. In April, he flew to Rome for Pope Francis's funeral.

The American president will meet on Tuesday with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in the country's capital. On Wednesday, he is to participate in a summit of Arab state leaders in Riyadh. According to Arab media, the meeting will include, among others, the presidents of Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, and Syria: Joseph Aoun, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ahmed al-Shara.

From Saudi Arabia, Trump is scheduled to fly to Qatar on Wednesday, ending his trip in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. The US President announced on Monday that he is considering travelling to Istanbul, Turkey, where Ukrainian-Russian peace negotiations are to be held on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already confirmed his presence. It is unclear if Russian leader Vladimir Putin will attend.

The three Arab monarchies Trump will visit are among the world's richest countries due to their vast oil and gas resources, and they are also key US allies in the region.

Arab countries were a focus of Trump's interest during his first term, during which he managed to bring about the so-called Abraham Accords, under which Israel established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco. Most Arab and Muslim countries do not recognise Israel and do not maintain official diplomatic relations with it.

Trump has long stated that he would like to expand the Abraham Accords to include more countries, chiefly Saudi Arabia.

Huge contracts between the US and Saudi Arabia have also been announced for a long time. In January, Salman announced that Saudi Arabia plans to invest 600 billion dollars (£454 billion) in the US economy over four years. Trump has already stated that he would like this amount to increase to a trillion dollars.

Reuters wrote in April that the US is ready to offer the Saudis a 100 billion dollar arms sale. The package is expected to include C-130 transport aircraft, MQ-9B strike drones, radars, and missiles. Trump is also expected to discuss a contract for F-35 fighters, which Riyadh has long sought to acquire.

A large agreement on investments in the Saudi nuclear energy sector is also anticipated. Last week, media reported that the Trump administration no longer links this contract to Saudi normalisation of relations with Israel. This was a condition set by former US President Joe Biden. The news was received with concern in Israel. Contracts between the US and Saudi Arabia are also expected to be part of a broader defence cooperation agreement between the two countries.

The United Arab Emirates announced in March a 10-year investment programme in the US economy worth 1.4 trillion dollars. The investments are to focus on high-tech sectors, including artificial intelligence, energy, and semiconductors. The UAE aims to become a leading economy in the field of artificial intelligence and seeks the lifting of US export restrictions on advanced technologies.

Another important point of regional policy is the ongoing negotiations with Iran regarding the nuclear agreement. So far, four rounds of talks have been held. Washington seeks to limit Iran's nuclear programme and guarantee that Tehran will not acquire nuclear weapons. Iran insists that the agreement cannot limit its uranium enrichment capabilities, to which the US and Israel object. Trump has threatened several times that if the talks do not succeed, the US could attack Iran.