Middle East trip: Trump masses up $Trillions in deals
Sopuruchi Onwuka
US President Donald Trump who stormed the Middle East amidst hostage deal impasse between Hamas and Israel is massing up trillions of dollars in business deals from the region.
From defence, aviation and tech deals, Trump has not disappointed his fans on the effectiveness of his trade strategies in earning the American economy greater chunk of the global market share after pushing back Europe, China and Russia with debilitating tariffs.
According to a according to White House media release, President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday signed a defense deal worth an estimated $142 billion on His arrival in Riyadh.
The White House stated that the agreement which was inked on the first day of Trump’s Middle East tour includes bolstering Saudi Arabia’s air and missile defense systems, as well as support for the kingdom’s coastal and border security.
Whereas Trump’s trip to the Gulf is centered on business, diplomacy still remains in focus as the US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reportedly held a meeting with Gaza negotiators in Qatar. Trump is also scheduled to stop on Thursday in Turkey where peace talks are due to take place between Ukraine and Russia.
President Donald Trump had in his address at a summit of executives in Riyadh on the first day of his Gulf tour spotlighted business ties. Trump has also pressed Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers to ramp up output in order to slash domestic US gas prices.
The Saudi kingdom pledged $600 billion in investment and trade with the US over four years of Trump’s term, even as Trump had expected deals of about $1 trillion value. The package involves a new Saudi AI company backed by the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund which picked a California chipmaker to help power its work.
The Saudi firm also announced a separate deal with US chip giant Nvidia to help power at least one data center in the Gulf nation. Nvidia’s CEO is among the dozens of business and tech leaders at the summit.
Nvidia will sell its most advanced AI chips to Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN, and agreed to train thousands of developers as the kingdom looks to build up local talent. The market leader in semiconductor manufacturing may announce yet another blockbuster order in Abu Dhabi, Bloomberg reported.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is spreading his big AI bet: Nvidia rival AMD will also provide chips and software for data centers in both Saudi Arabia and the US in a $10 billion joint venture with HUMAIN, while Amazon Web Services and Riyadh will invest more than $5 billion to develop agentic AI to be used by the Saudi government.
Trump’s AI czar said in Riyadh that the administration will “rescind” the sweeping Biden-era chip caps and plans to work with individual countries directly.
Still, a former senior policy adviser in the Biden administration warned against giving Gulf countries unfettered chip access, writing in Foreign Policy that the risk of leaking sensitive intellectual property to US adversaries “remains very real.”
In his traverse of the states surrounding Israel in the Arabian Gulf, President Donald Trump announced a $1.2 trillion “economic exchange” with Qatar. The American and Qatari states also vowed to deepen their defense partnership.
Highlight of the trade deals which enunciate Trump’s flaunting of the America’s huge market, technology and production capacity is Qatar’s offer to buy some 210 jets from US aircraft giant Boeing, a deal touted as the largest in the company’s history.
Qatar had earlier offerred to give Trump a luxury jet for use as Air Force One, a gift the president has endorsed despite growing bipartisan scrutiny.
In a business meeting in which Syrian President proposed robust business relationship and deals with American companies, Trump urged Mohammed al-Sharaa to also normalize relations with Israel as Washington considers to lift sanctions on Damascus.
Trump had credited Saudi Arabia’s crown prince as a major influence on his decision to lift sanctions on Syria, receiving thunderous applause during his speech in Riyadh on Tuesday. He followed it up with a meeting with the former al-Qaida leader to normalize ties with Israel.
Trump the move to stabilize Damascus would give Syrians a “chance for greatness.”
Al-Sharaa who has been trying to woo Washington with promises of business deals with American companies and a Trump Tower in Damascus expression pleasure at the offer to return the Arabian state to the league of global economies.
The sanctions decision, brokered by Riyadh and Ankara, was also met with jubilation by Syrians who took to the streets to thank Saudi Arabia and the US.
Syria is a fragile state influenced by Türkiye, Israel, and to some extent, Iran. And Gulf countries are carving out a role that will ensure the country no longer threatens regional stability.