President Trump's Trip to the Middle East
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Today on State of the World, Trump's trip to the Middle East. You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. It's Tuesday, May 13th. I'm Greg Dixon. President Trump is on his first major overseas trip of his second term. And just like his first term, it's to the Middle East. He's visiting Gulf Arab states, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.

These are places where Trump has both personal relationships and family business ties with the ruling class. We'll hear more about those entanglements in a few minutes. But first, Trump's first full day in the region was in Saudi Arabia, where a number of deals were announced. And on Wednesday, he's scheduled to meet with a new leader in the region, the president of Syria. Notably, Trump announced he would be dropping U.S. sanctions on that country.

NPR's Franco Ordonez is traveling with the president, and he talked to Elsa Chang about the trip. Okay, so the White House says Trump will meet tomorrow with the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharat. Can you just tell us what you think is the significance of this meeting we're expecting?

Yeah, sure. I mean, it's likely going to be a very short meeting, just a few hellos. But this really is a big shift in U.S. foreign policy. Now, Trump sees this as a chance for stability in Syria after decades of civil war. I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness. Thank you.

The U.S. has had sanctions in place since 1979, and the new president, until this year, led a group that had links to al-Qaeda. Trump has said he decided to lift the sanctions after speaking with the Saudi crown prince and the president of Turkey, and it really was a significant moment of diplomacy in a trip that is expected to be defined by business deals. Right. Okay, business deals. But can we talk about the bigger picture here? Like, what is Trump, in your mind, looking to get out of this trip?

Well, a lot of it is about getting, you know, demonstrating stronger ties between the two countries. I mean, they really rolled out the red carpet for Trump or in this case, in Saudi's case, a lavender carpet. You know, Trump was escorted to the Saudi airport by a group of F-15 fighter jets. And the whole day was incredibly lavish with two Arabian horse welcomes. There were camels and multiple receptions. We just got back from a big state dinner where there were traditional drummers.

And just to go back a moment, there was a lot of pomp and circumstance during Trump's first visit here in 2017. But former President Joe Biden had a real difficult relationship with the crown prince. You know, he didn't even want to shake his hand on camera. He gave him a fist bump. And this was because of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi and also the U.S. intelligence assessment that the crown prince had approved the operation.

But that was then and now Trump called Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a incredible man and praised him extensively throughout the day. Trump said he's not here to lecture. He wants to make business deals. Yeah, let's go back to those business deals. What kind of deals did Trump actually make?

Well, I can tell you there was a long list of CEOs here today with Trump from NVIDIA, OpenAI, Elon Musk, of course, financial firms and defense contractors. The White House says there were about $142 billion in armed deals with more than a dozen U.S. firms.

and $80 billion in technology investments. And we're really going to be expecting to see more of that during other stops on the trip to Qatar and UAE. Well, given the various conflicts in the region at the moment, I mean, real quick, Franco, what did Trump have to say about those conflicts? Well, when it came to the war in Gaza, he really didn't say much. He did say that it was a dream for Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel by joining the Abraham Accords. But that's something that the Crown Prince has said it won't be possible until the war ends.

That is NPR's Franco Ordonez in Riyadh. Thank you so much, Franco. Thank you also.

As we just heard, President Trump is announcing multi-billion dollar deals in the Gulf that benefit the U.S. As NPR's Aya Batraoui reports from Riyadh, this trip also represents a convergence of U.S. interests with Trump's personal ties with Gulf Arab rulers, as well as family business deals. Few places in the world exemplify new money, aesthetic, and luxury quite like the Arab Gulf. Few places in the world exemplify new money, aesthetic, and luxury quite like the Arab Gulf.

Think towering skyscrapers with infinity pools and luxury interiors. The market's crowded with designer hotels and residences. And that includes Trump-branded real estate projects popping up. I stopped by Dar Global's office in Riyadh. That's the private Saudi developer behind the newest Trump projects in the region. There's a mock-up of a 47-story Trump Tower coming up in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Trump Clubhouse. Trump Clubhouse.

How many apartments is it? Around 450. 450, okay. Darg Global's also developing a sprawling Trump golf course and residential community in Alman. And only weeks ago, the Trump organization launched two more projects with the company, a Trump golf course community in Doha, Qatar, and a hotel tower in Dubai where penthouses are priced at $20 million.

Here's Eric Trump, the president's son who runs the family business, in a video from Dar Global at the launch of the Hotel Tower project in Dubai. On behalf of myself, on behalf of my family, we love Dubai. We have such a great relationship between the United States and Dubai.

And just one of the greatest places. It's not just love and friends that draw the Trump family to the Gulf. There's big dollar investments fueled by the region's oil wealth. And this confluence of personal ties, business interests, and Trump's role as president of the United States converge on this trip. While president, Trump's investments and assets are in a trust managed by his children. But Mamoun Fendi, director of the London Global Strategy Institute think tank, says these family business deals compromise the image of the office he holds.

In the past, the presidency used to cost the president his financial well-being, if you will, that most people have to declare their assets and make sure they are separated.

from his office. Now everything is conflated. Since his first term in office, money from the Gulf has flowed into the Trump family's orbit. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund overseen by the Saudi crown prince. It helped Kushner launch his private equity fund just months after leaving the White House where he was advisor to Trump in his first term.

The White House says Trump isn't making money off being president. White House Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt told reporters it's ridiculous to even suggest it. He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service, not just once, but twice. Just before heading to the Gulf, Trump was asked by reporters about being offered a new presidential luxury Boeing plane from Qatar to replace one of the aging Air Force One jets. I would never be one to turn down anything.

that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, no, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane. Meanwhile, money from the Gulf keeps coming. The latest deal included the Trump family's cryptocurrency venture called World Liberty Financial. It's co-founded by Zach Witkoff, whose father is Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Mideast. Just days ago, an Abu Dhabi firm used World Liberty's stablecoin to close a $2 billion investment into crypto exchange Binance.

So what exactly do Gulf Arab states gain from these investments? Fendi of the London Global Strategy Institute says it's part of a bigger calculus to establish close links with a sitting U.S. president. It works for them as a security umbrella.

It's a high premium, but there's still insecurity, insurance policy. And for Saudi Arabia, a heavyweight in the region and a major oil producer, having Trump choose to come here first for his first official trip again as president cements their regional clout. And that, Fendi says, is priceless. Aya Botraoui, NPR News, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That's the state of the world from NPR. Thanks for listening.