Why Trump focuses on business transactions on his Middle East trip: NPR

President Trump leaves the first big trip abroad of his second term on Monday and focuses on business agreements in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, while his government has difficulty ending the end of the war in Gaza.

Trump promised to bring peace when he ran for a second term, but that turns out to be difficult to grasp. On this trip, he will be a promise of Saudi Arabia to invest 600 billion US dollars in the United States in the next four years and to spend 1.4 trillion dollars over 10 years.

“The Saudis, the Emiratis and Qataris will fall over themselves, who can surpass themselves to welcome the president,” said Steven Cook, a high -ranking scholarship holder of the Middle East in the Council for Foreign Relations. “And then you will surpass yourself about the number of offers that you can announce as president.”

In many ways, the trip is a repetition of the first trip abroad of Trump's first term. The Saudis welcomed Trump with a wasteful ceremony and announcements of billions of dollars.

Cook said the golf leaders understand what Trump wants – and would be interested in giving him – because there are other things that Trump does not ask.

“It is good for you, because when he comes to you and says:” We want your help to do something on Gaza “and you are not inclined to do it, you are isolated from the criticism that would probably come if you just do nothing,” said Cook.

As early as 2017, Trump tried to support relationships in the region after implementing a ban on travel from some Muslim majority-and did some business with autocratic managers who sought global credibility.

The White House said this trip would highlight the strengthening of relationships in the region.

“President Trump will return to emphasize his continued vision for a proud, successful and successful Middle East, in which the United States and the Middle East are in cooperative relationships and in which extremism is defeated instead of trade and cultural exchange,” press spokesman Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Friday.

But the riots and uncertainties in the region have complicated the news, said Karen Young, a political economist that focuses on the Golf at the Middle East Institute.

“Much of the rhetoric is the same, but the world has changed,” she said.

The biggest political goals of Trump are currently beyond the range

Trump has some major goals in the region for his second term: final fights in the Gaza, they stop the progress of Iran to become nuclear power and convince Saudi Arabia to normalize relationships with normalizing what is known as Abraham Accords.

But Saudi Arabia, which has long been demanding an independent Palestinian state, is unlikely that due to the war war in Gaza, Dennis Ross said, who worked for the administrations of George HW Bush and Clinton in the Middle East.

“Mohammed bin Salman [Saudi Arabia’s crown prince] It is very likely to say that the atmosphere acidifies that at this point this is not something he can deal with, “said Ross, who is now at the Washington Institute for near East Policy.

All discussions about the agreements will probably be done behind closed doors, said Ross.

It also makes business offers more important for Trump.

“At the moment, the president does not have many successes that can be pointed out,” said Ross.

What happened on Trump's first trip to Riad

During Trump's first trip to Riad, Saudi capital, in 2017, arms deals of almost 110 billion US dollars were announced in 2017, and the administration said that other investments could increase them to up to $ 350 billion.

Since then, according to the Foreign Ministry, the US government has “implemented” 30 billion US dollars in foreign military cases with Saudi Arabia. In other words, the Riad announcement was the simple part.

“There are many steps in every weapon sales process,” said John Parachini, a high -ranking defense researcher at Rand Corp. The process includes complex negotiations, several federal authorities, congress, arms manufacturers and the customer countries.

But this complexity was not part of the sale of Trump.

“This is the style of this particular president. He will send a strong signal to support American business, but these things are really complicated and can take years,” said Parachini.