What To Know About His Middle East Trip

Topline

President Donald Trump signed a $600 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that includes a major defense contract and substantial investments in artificial intelligence—as U.S. business executives made their own set of deals at a conference in the backdrop of Trump’s visit to Riyadh, the first stop on his four-day tour of the Middle East.

U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during an official … More state arrival ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Getty Images

Key Facts

Saudi company DataVolt will invest $20 billion in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the U.S. and the Saudis will purchase $142 billion in military equipment and services from the U.S. as part of the agreement, according to a White House press release.

Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman committed the $600 billion in a call with Trump in January, though the details of the deal were largely unclear until now.

Before signing the agreement, Trump told bin Salman he wanted the kingdom to raise its investment to $1 trillion, noting “we have the biggest business leaders in the world here” who are “going to walk away with a lot of checks,” The New York Times reported.

Coinciding with Trump’s visit, U.S. billionaires, including Elon Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Palantir’s Alex Karp and BlackRock’s Larry Fink attended the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, where organizers said 145 deals worth more than $300 billion have been signed, including a deal for Nvidia to sell 18,000 AI chips to the new Saudi-backed company Humain, and Saudi approval of Musk’s Starlink.

Trump’s stop in Riyadh kicks off a four-day tour of the Middle East— and while the goals of the visit are somewhat unclear—it’s expected to center around new economic investments, rather than broader geopolitical strategy.

Conflict-of-interest concerns swirled ahead of the visit, particularly surrounding Trump’s family business ventures in the region and, more recently, the expected announcement that Qatar will gift the Trump administration a new 747 mega-jet.

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What Is Humain?

Saudi Arabia debuted the company Monday. It’s chaired by bin Salman and backed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and Public Investment Fund. Former Aramco Digital executive Tareq Amin will lead the company, which will “pave the way for a groundbreaking national AI strategy in Saudi Arabia,” Amin said in a December LinkedIn post. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was also in Saudi Arabia to announce the deal alongside Amin.

What Else Does The Agreement Between Saudi Arabia And The U.s. Say?

The defense contract includes sales across five categories: air force and space, air and missile defense, maritime security, border security and information technology and communications systems, the White House said. In addition to the defense agreement, it also includes a deal for Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD and Uber to invest more than $80 billion in both countries.

What Else Happened During Trump’s First Day In Saudi Arabia?

The Saudis welcomed Trump with great fanfare. Saudi fighter jets escorted Air Force One upon its landing in Riyadh, where bin Salman greeted Trump on the tarmac, and a convoy of Arabian horses then surrounded Trump’s motorcade en route to the Saudi royal court. Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia coincides with the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, attended by Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser and other executives, investors, entrepreneurs and defense contractors.

How Was The Saudi Reception Of Trump Different From Biden’s 2022 Visit?

The Saudi crown prince’s decision to personally greet Trump at the tarmac of Riyadh’s airport stood in stark contrast to the cold reception former President Joe Biden received in 2022. The former president had criticized bin Salman over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi during his presidential campaign and vowed to turn Saudi Arabia into a “pariah” state. In 2021, the Biden administration also halted the delivery of offensive weapons to the Saudi government, citing concerns about its handling of the conflict in Yemen. But when faced with high oil prices in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden flew to the Middle Eastern kingdom to persuade it to ramp up oil production. He was greeted by a provincial governor at the airport and later met bin Salman in Jeddah, where the two shared an awkward fist bump.

What Is Trump’s Agenda In The Middle East After The Saudi Visit?

On Wednesday, Trump will travel to Qatar, where he’ll meet with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. He will conclude the trip Thursday in the United Arab Emirates, where he will meet with President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan before returning to the U.S.

Who Else Will Accompany Trump On The Trip?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, among others.

What Personal Business Does Trump Have In The Middle East?

Multiple Trump-branded properties and crypto deals are among those in the Trump family’s Middle East business portfolio. Among the real estate ventures in the works are a Trump golf resort in Qatar and Trump residential towers in Dubai and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. An investment fund backed by the United Arab Emirates, MGX, also used $2 billion in stablecoin issued by the Trump family’s World Liberty Financial to invest in Binance earlier this year. The deal contributed to the failure last week of a crypto industry-friendly bill that would have regulated stablecoins, as senators on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns about Trump’s links to the MGX-Binance deal and his personal stake in the stablecoin legislation. The White House has dismissed concerns about any potential conflicts of interest between Trump’s official government duties and his personal business in the Middle East. “I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Friday.

What Agreements Could Trump Announce On The Trip To The Middle East?

Trump is seeking a $1 trillion investment in the U.S. from Saudi Arabia. He told reporters in March he agreed to the trip because Saudi Arabia agreed to the investment, though Riyadh has yet to confirm the figure, and experts told The New York Times the amount is unrealistic given the size of Saudi Arabia’s economy. Qatar is expected to gift the Trump administration a $400 million 747-8 jumbo jet to use in place of Air Force One—what could be the largest foreign gift to the federal government in history, raising concerns it could set the stage for a quid pro quo situation. The White House has vehemently rejected any pay-for-play suggestions. Trump said Monday the plane would be gifted to the Defense Department, not him personally. He also said he wouldn’t use the plane after leaving office even though it would be donated to his presidential library after its tenure as Air Force One.

What Recent Agreements Have The Three Countries Already Announced With The U.s.?

Saudi Arabia proposed in January an additional $600 billion investment in the U.S. over the next four years, with the potential to increase the amount, though it’s unclear exactly where the money would go. The United Arab Emirates announced in March a new $1.4 trillion investment over the next decade in artificial intelligence, semiconductors, manufacturing and energy. The U.S. and Qatar last year reached an agreement to extend U.S. military presence at the Al Udeid Air Base for another 10 years.

Will Trump Visit Israel On His Trip To The Region?

No, and it’s been noted by experts that it could be viewed as a sign of tensions between Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “There’s nothing that Netanyahu has that Trump wants, needs or can give him, as opposed to, say, the Saudis, the Qataris, the Emiratis,” former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told CNN. Trump has made several moves recently that have reportedly surprised Israel, including renewed nuclear deal negotiations with Iran and his agreement for a ceasefire between the U.S. and the Houthis, but not Israel. The U.S. also negotiated the release of the last American Hamas hostage, Edan Alexander, released Monday, without Israel.