Trump's Middle East tour set to seal billion-dollar deals

This marks Donald Trump's second foreign trip during his second term. In April, he attended Pope Francis's funeral in Rome.

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

From Saudi Arabia, Trump is set to fly to Qatar on Wednesday, concluding his trip on Thursday in the United Arab Emirates. On Monday, the U.S. President announced that he is considering going to Istanbul, Turkey, where Ukrainian-Russian peace negotiations are to take place on Thursday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already confirmed his attendance. It is unclear whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin will appear there.

The three Arab monarchies Trump will visit are among the wealthiest countries in the world due to their abundant oil and gas resources, and at the same time, they are key U.S. allies in the region.

Arab countries have been a focus of Trump's interests since his first term when he managed to facilitate 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 recognize 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 other countries, primarily Saudi Arabia.

Long-announced are also huge contracts between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. In January, Salman announced that Saudi Arabia intends to invest 600 billion dollars into the American economy over four years. Trump has already stated that he would like this amount to increase to one trillion dollars.

Reuters reported in April that the U.S. is prepared to offer Saudi Arabia a package of arms sales worth 100 billion dollars. The package is to include, among others, C-130 transport aircraft, MQ-9B strike drones, radars, and missiles. Trump is also set to discuss a contract for F-35 fighter jets, which Riyadh has long sought to acquire.

A major deal on investments in the Saudi nuclear energy sector is also being announced. Last week, media reported that the Trump administration no longer conditions awarding this contract on Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel. This was a requirement of the previous U.S. President Joe Biden. The news was met with concern in Israel. Contracts between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are also to be part of a broader defense cooperation agreement between the two countries.

The United Arab Emirates announced in March a 10-year program of investments in the American economy worth 1.4 trillion dollars. The investments will focus on high-tech sectors, including artificial intelligence, energy, and semiconductors. The UAE aims to become a leading economy in artificial intelligence and is counting on the lifting of U.S. export restrictions on advanced technologies.

Another important point in regional policy is the ongoing negotiations with Iran regarding the nuclear deal. So far, four rounds of talks have taken place. Washington aims to limit Iran's nuclear program and ensure that Tehran does not acquire nuclear weapons. Iran emphasizes that the agreement should not limit its ability to enrich uranium, to which the U.S and Israel are opposed. Trump has repeatedly threatened that if the talks do not yield results, the U.S. may attack Iran.