US President Donald Trump has confirmed that his first overseas trip since returning to the White House will likely include visits to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, possibly as early as May.
“It could be next month, maybe a little bit later,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office yesterday. “We’re going to Qatar, also, and also we’re going to possibly a couple of other countries. UAE is very important … so we’ll probably stop at UAE and Qatar.”
The announcement follows a report by Axios that White House officials are planning a mid-May visit to Saudi Arabia, aimed at cementing economic ties. Trump made Riyadh and Tel Aviv his first foreign stops during his initial term in 2017.
This time, Israel is not currently on the itinerary, according to US officials. The focus appears to be economic, with Trump touting a major surge in Saudi investment.
“I view it as jobs more than anything else, and now we’re close to a trillion dollars,” Trump said. “So it’s more than double the number that we did when I first came to office.”
In January, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged $600 billion in new US trade and investment deals. Trump indicated the upcoming trip will see American companies supplying equipment for Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the region: “And for that, I think it’s worth it.”
Though Saudi Arabia has also hosted backchannel talks on ending the Ukraine war, Trump made no mention of any planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the trip. However, he expressed confidence that Putin would eventually back a ceasefire.
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