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Trump visits three of the richest nations in the world. Here is what is on your wish list


Abu Dhabi, Vae
Cnn

Three energy-rich golf-Arab nations run to transform their influence on Donald Trump into tangible profits, whereby the president should visit next week.

They have established personal relationships with the president and together promise trillions in US investments, while they have occupied themselves as key intermediaries in conflicts that Trump wants to solve from Gaza to Ukraine and Iran.

Now you are rewarded with the privilege of organizing Trump's first state visit to his second term. The US President will land in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by visits to Qatar and then the United Arab Emirates, which stretch until May 16.

In view of Trump's transaction approach to foreign policy, the three countries have a lot to offer.

“In Trump's book, the Gulf States tick the right boxes,” said Hasan Alhasan, Senior Fellow for the Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain. They promise to invest trillions in the US economy and output colossal amounts for US weapon systems. ”

Behind this carefully designed strategy of rewriting Trump is a wish of the Gulf States to formalize and formalize their positions as an indispensable security and business partner of the USA and to extract as much benefits as possible.

The US gulf relationships have returned to office since Trump. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had frustrated about the perceived lack of US interest in their needs under the administration of bidges and the VAE to diversify their military, technological and economic ties. With Trump in office you see what a golf officer described as a “unique opportunity” to achieve the goals of his country.

In their view, the time to consolidate connections with Washington and even “secure more privileges in their relationship to the most powerful nation in the world,” said Ebesame Alketbi, founder and president of the Emirates Policy Center in Abu Dhabi.

Each of the three nations who visit Trump has their own list of priorities. You want the following from the USA and how you can achieve it.

“Security, Security and Security” is what Saudi Arabia and other golf states are most looking for for Trump's visit, said Ali Shihabi, author and commentator for the politics and economy of Saudi Arabia.

“The golf states are looking for the security of the US security obligation for the stability of the golf,” Shihabi told CNN. “Trump has many priorities and it is known that they quickly lose interest … and they want to hire him.”

Last year, the USA and Saudi Arabia came shortly before the completion of a pioneering defense and trading package – but the deal remained on Saudi insistence that Israel has signed a way to the Palestinian statehood.

Firas Maksad, Managing Director of the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasien Group, told Becky Anderson from CNN that Trump would probably do big business, regardless of the normalization he said, was “dead”.

Riyadh also applies for cooperation with the USA to develop a civilian nuclear program, but which was captured in Germany about the existence of uranium. If it is enriched to high values, the uranium can be used for the production of nuclear weapons.

The support of the White House for a Saudi nuclear program was able to lead to American companies gaining lucrative contracts.

Riad seems to be demanding his relationship with the USA as a win-win-win situation. In March Trump said he would go to Saudi Arabia if it invested $ 1 trillion in the USA. “You agreed to do that, so I'll go there,” he said.

While Saudi Arabia did not confirm this number, plans to expand the trade and investments with the United States by 600 billion US dollars in January with the potential for more.

In order for Riad to break away from the oil, it still has to sell oil with a healthy profit to finance this transition. The recent drops of price, some of which are driven by Trump's tariffs, threaten to undermine these ambitions. Trump has made it clear that he wants to lower oil prices and brings him to Saudi -Arabia's need for high income to finance his economic transformation.

Perhaps more than any other golf state consider the VAE investments as a central for their strategy to deepen relationships with the USA and to secure returns – and it has money to secure them. Among the richest countries in the world per capita, trillions in the US investments have promised. Abu Dhabi even described himself as the “capital capital”.

“Expansion of trade and investments is a way to strengthen this strategic partnership,” said Alketbi. “The United States is still a critical security guarantor for the golf region and at the same time offer a dynamic economy full of opportunities and skills that match the long -term golf development plans.”

Residential and commercial clouds on the skyline of Abu Dhabi, united Arab Emirates, on April 10, 2022.

In March, the VAE announced an investment plan of 1.4 trillion dollars over 10 years, which focuses on AI, semiconductor, manufacturing and energy. According to their message in Washington, the existing US investments are already 1 Billion US dollar.

“The United Arab Emirates see a unique opportunity to make a significant contribution to AI and progressive technology,” Anwar Gargash, diplomatic advisor to the President of the United Arab Emirates, told CNN. “The obligation to invest 1.4 trillion US dollars … Corresponds to the aim of the VAE, to diversify its economy from its oversizing on hydrocarbons in order to ensure prosperity for the country in the future.”

For Abu Dhabi, however, it will not be easy to achieve its declared goal of becoming the world in the AI ​​until 2031 without US microchips.

In the last few days of the administration of former President Joe Biden, the US curbs in AI exports tightened to keep the advanced technology out of the hands of foreign opponents such as China, which should come into force on May 15. The VAE were one of the countries that were faced with restrictions and possibly expect them to be lifted during Trump's trip.

On Thursday, the United States announced that Trump would overturn a number of curbs from the bidea era.

Qatar is the Arab Golf nation with the formalized safety relationships with the United States. It houses the largest US military installation in the Middle East, which the Foreign Ministry describes as “indispensable” for US military operations in the region.

Last year, the United States tacitly achieved an agreement that extends its military presence on the extensive basis in Qatar for another 10 years. It also changed a contract with the USA from 1992, which is supposed to further strengthen its security partnership.

In 2022, the bidet administration also described Qatar as an important non-Nato allied, a title granted close friends who have strategic work relationships with the US military.

Qatar was an important mediator in a number of conflicts – from war in Gaza to Afghanistan. Experts say it is part of the efforts to remain relevant in the eyes of Washington.

On March 21, 2024, a US military transport aircraft is shown to carry humanitarian aid packages for the Gaza Strip.

“The golf states consider the conflict agency as a source of influence and prestige,” Alhasan told CNN. “You managed to use your role as mediators to position yourself as an indispensable partner for Trump's political agenda.”

Doha also keeps close relationships with the new President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who was looking for his country of years of sanctions through the West.

It is expected that Syria is a central topic that Qatar will address at Trump when he visits, an official with knowledge of the matter on Thursday to CNN. The Trump government is urging Doha to raise sanctions on Syria after Caesar Act, the official said and added that Qatar satisfied himself in Washington in relation to the financial support of Syria without a blessing.

In Trump's visit, it is ultimately about what he can get out of the three golf states, experts said and added that each of the three nations expects a number of new deals that benefit both parties.

“He comes here because he believes that in the interests of the US economy, perhaps of his interest and its surroundings, they have these business with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and in the Qatar,” said Maksad. “So you can expect great announcements.”

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