President Donald Trump has wrapped up his three-country tour of the Middle East, during which significant moves were made to transform the United States’ relationship with the region.
The President solidified investment agreements, conducted the first meeting between U.S. and Syrian Presidents in 25 years, hinted at the potential for a nuclear deal with Iran, and much more.
Trump kickstarted his visit on Tuesday, May 13, when he landed in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, and was greeted by luxury at the Royal Saudi Palace. He signed deals and agreements worth billions of dollars, covering a number of industries.
Qatar was Trump’s next stop. He landed in the capital city of Doha on Wednesday, May 14. Another flurry of agreements were made—including a $96 billion Boeing deal—followed by a roundtable with business leaders, where Trump resurfaced his idea of a U.S. takeover of the Gaza strip.
Trump arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, May 15, for the final leg of his tour, during which he signed an agreement on AI worth around $1.4 trillion.Reflecting on his trip, Trump lamented that future Presidents may well take credit for what he has achieved. “Somebody’s going to be taking the credit for this. You remember, press, this guy did it,” Trump told reporters during the flight home on Air Force One.
As Trump returns to Washington, D.C., here’s a look back at the key moments from his whirlwind tour of the Middle East:
Signing a $142 billion arms deal in Saudi Arabia
Trump’s trip started off with a glitzy welcome from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The President was joined by Tesla CEO and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) lead Elon Musk, as well as other important U.S. business figures including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.
Plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria and a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa
In an unexpected announcement during a U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum on Tuesday, May 13, Trump said he plans to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, some of which have been in place for over 45 years.
Trump called the sanctions “brutal and crippling,” but noted their necessity before the collapse of the Bashar Assad regime in December 2024. Trump said that now, in this new era, it’s time for Syria to “shine.”
Many experts, including Benjamin Feve, a senior research analyst at Karam Shaar Advisory, have said that Trump’s plan to list the sanctions may not be straightforward.
“He [Trump] cannot just declare it, you have to go through a specific process which involves barriers in the Administration. You have the Secretary of State, the Treasury, Congress,” Feve tells TIME. “They have to be re-thought, redesigned in order to continue who they will be imposed upon.”
The collapse of the Assad regime in December occurred when Ahmed al-Sharaa’s group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led a rebel coalition. Assad fled Syria with his family and sought asylum in Russia. HTS has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and al-Sharaa had a $10 million reward for his arrest placed on him by the U.S. government, before it was lifted in December.
On Wednesday, May 14, Trump and al-Sharaa met in Riyadh. They were accompanied by the Saudi Crown Prince, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined remotely via telephone.
Talking to reporters afterwards on Air Force One, Trump described the Syrian leader, a former militant, as a "young, attractive guy. Tough guy. Strong past. Very strong past. Fighter… He’s got a real shot at holding it together.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later revealed that Trump had urged al-Sharaa to normalise ties with Israel, clamp down on terrorism in Syria, and work with the U.S. to stop any resurgence of ISIS.
In a May 14 post on his social media platform, TruthSocial, Trump said: “The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME! It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years… “Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our country.”
He also defended his stance during an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Air Force One.
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani gave his take on the gift controversy during an interview with CNN.
“It’s still under legal review. I don’t know why it became so big as news… We have done a lot together with the U.S.,” he said, adding that it was just a case of “very simple government-to-government dealing.”
When asked whether this was an instance of “buying influence” with the U.S., the Qatari leader said: “Why would we buy influence in the United States? If you look at the last 10 years of the U.S.-Qatar relationship, Qatar has always been there for the U.S. when it's needed... We believe this friendship needs to be mutually-beneficial for both countries. It cannot be a one-way relationship.”
Trump suggests that the U.S. takes over Gaza and makes it a “freedom zone”
A notable absence from Trump’s list of stops during his Middle East tour was Israel, but the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has still been a central point of discussion for the President. Trump expressed hope for the “safety and dignity” for Palestinians in Gaza during a Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.
The next morning, at a roundtable discussion with business leaders in Doha, Trump once again raised his idea for a U.S. takeover of Gaza. It's an idea that has been previously condemned by many world leaders, as it would likely involve the displacement of the entire Palestinian population. “I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,” Trump said.
“They’ve never solved the Gaza problem and if you look at it, I have aerial shots, I mean there’s practically no building standing, there’s no building. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable, it's tremendous death. And I want to see that be a freedom zone.”
In an interview with NBC on Wednesday, Ali Shamkhani—a key political, military and nuclear adviser to the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—said that the country is ready to sign a nuclear deal with the U.S., subject to conditions.
Shamkhani said that if a deal were to take place, Iran would not make nuclear weapons, would reduce stockpiles of enriched uranium to a level only needed for civilian use, and would allow international inspectors to supervise the process. In return, all economic sanctions on Iran would need to be lifted. Shamkhani said that if those conditions were met, Iran would sign an agreement on the day.
During Thursday’s roundtable in Doha, Trump said that talks between Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, and Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Affairs Minister, were progressing as “very serious negotiations.”
However, Araghchi later said that enriching uranium was a core right for Iran and it was a red line regarding negotiations.
On Friday, after departing the UAE, his final stop of the tour, Trump said that Iran had received a proposal from the U.S. regarding the nuclear programme. Talking to reporters on Air Force One, he said: “They have a proposal, but more importantly, they know that they have to move quickly, or something bad, something bad’s gonna happen.”
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