It is the Gulf, with its wealth and its great economic-commercial potential, the destination of the first journey abroad of American President Donald Trump in his second term. The head of the White House has recently taken off by Washington and tomorrow her Middle Eastern tour will begin by going to Saudi Arabia, then in Qatar and United Arab Emirates. The traditional stage in Israel is missing, among the main allies in the region. A “gap” that made more than an eyebrow raise in the Jewish state and that put the premier under pressure Benjamin Netanyahuwho has always boasted about the friendship with Trump, benefiting politically. But the relationships between the two in recent weeks have received some strokes: the US negotiations with Iran on the nuclear program, the agreement with the Ribelli Yemeniti Houthi for navigation in the Red Sea e The talks with Hamas that led to the announcement of the liberation of the Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexanderall without involving Israel, they were a cold shower for the head of government. FoxNews has given voice to the growing tensions, defining Netanyahu as an “obstacle” to Trump’s diplomatic initiatives in the region. In the same way, the Israeli broadcaster Channel 13 reported unusual criticisms against Washington from the restricted circle of the Premier, who denounced the “chaos in the Trump administration”, claiming that “everything works according to the whims of the president”. Alarms denied with strength by Netanyahu himself and high American exponents, such as the US ambassador Mike Huckabe and the special correspondent Steve Witkoff, but the figure remains. To this, it is added that the head of the pentagon, Pete Hegseth, He canceled the visit to Israel scheduled for today to join Trump on the trip to the Gulf. The official explanation was that the president asked him to fly with him on the Air Force One and the stage to Tel Aviv of the Minister of Defense has jumped. To accompany Trump there will also be the special correspondent for the Middle East Steve Witkoffthe Secretary of State Marco Rubiothe Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Riad for some time aims at Washington’s assistance for his civil nuclear program and seeks greater defense cooperation. Questions that the US seemed to want to be a Barattarè with a normalization agreement with Israel which, however, was hindered by the Hamas attack of 7 October and by the consequent conflict in the strip, which Netanyahu shows no sign of wanting to stop. Focus on investments and security also by Emirates and Qatar, with the first concentrated on technology and artificial intelligence and the latter who have played a leading diplomatic role for some years (and host the largest US military base in the Middle East). The Iranian nuclear nuclear dossier is also central to the leaders of the Gulf: if Israel and Saudi Arabia are firmly opposed, with Tel Aviv that aims at its destruction of military manu, in the Trump administration a debate is underway between the hawks that support the line-Neanyahu and who instead, like the secretary of state Marco Rubio, seems more likely to leave the possibility of a nuclear program but precise limitations.
Chapter aside is Syria, with the interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa who according to Reuters would have worked in recent weeks behind the scenes for a meeting with Trump. On the plate the Islamist leader would have launched everything, from the creation of a Trump Tower in Damascus, to a relaxation with Israel, up to the access of the United States to Syrian oil and gas. The hypothesis was denied by a source of the White House but still turns in the media. Al-Sharaa, still formally designated by the United States as a terrorist for his past in Al-Qaeda, aims to obtain the loosening of the penalties that maintain the country isolated from the global financial system and make the economic recovery extremely difficult after 14 years of civil war. Last Sunday he spoke to the Saudi MBS but a face to face with Trump is considered unlikely, also due to the lack of consent within the US administration against the new Damascus after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. However, in today’s press conference, the US President opened to the possibility of an ease of sanctions, against the request of Turkey, to disclose “a new chapter”.
Trump’s mission will focus mainly on the economic dimension. According to collaborators in the White House, mentioned by the Washington Post, the security issues will not be central during the three and a half days of the visit to the Gulf, demonstrating its strong attention to commercial agreements and investments that could strengthen it with its electorate at home, among the criticisms for the aggressive policy of inaugurated duty. Already in 2017 Trump, during his first term, had chosen Riad as the first foreign destination but on that occasion he had then continued the tour towards Israel and Europe. This time the itinerary follows – after a few weeks – the trips made in the region from his son Eric, head of the Trump Organization, flown to the Gulf to make commercial agreements, such as the projects in the real estate field recently announced, a large hotel and a Tower in Dubai and a golf course outside Doha.
Riad as the first stage was a “conquest” of the Saudi hereditary prince Mohammed Bin Salman Which was the first foreign leader to call Trump, promising investments in the USA for at least 600 billion dollars. The president proposed him to get to a thousand and would have had the honor of the first visit. And so it was, even if the details on the investments remained vague. On the Trump agenda there is a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council and a Saudi-USA Arabia Business Forum in which company captains like the President and CEO of BlackRock will participate, Larry Finkthe CEO of Citigroup, Jane Fraserand the President and CEO of IBM, Arvind Krishna. And if the head of the White House intends to focus on business, in the Gulf the regional leaders will push on safety, primarily on hot themes such as the war in Gaza and the Iran dossier. They want reassurances about Washington’s commitment to the stability of the area, shaken by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its branches.