PNN – In an article, National Public Radio examined Donald Trump’s goals for his trip to the Middle East and reported that the US President will begin his first major foreign trip of his second term on Monday, focusing on trade agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, the website of the American National Public Radio (NPR) wrote this introduction: On his trip to the Middle East, Donald Trump will showcase Saudi Arabia’s promise to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years and the United Arab Emirates’ commitment to invest $1.4 trillion over 10 years.
Meanwhile, the White House announced that the US President’s trip this week to the three countries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE will emphasize strengthening relations in the region.
White House spokeswoman Carolyn Leavitt told reporters on Friday local time: President Trump returns to reaffirm his continued vision for a proud, prosperous, and successful Middle East, where the United States and the countries of the Middle East have cooperative relationships and extremism is defeated through trade and cultural exchange.
Trump’s trip to the Middle East comes at a time when he promised to establish peace in the region during his campaign for a second presidential term, but this promise has not yet been fulfilled.
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In relations between Saudi Arabia and Washington, Israel remains out of the equation.
Meanwhile, Karen Young, a political economist at the Middle East Institute who focuses on the affairs of the Persian Gulf region, noted that unrest and instability in the region have made it difficult to convey diplomatic messages: Much of the rhetoric is the same, but the world has changed.
On the other hand, Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East affairs at the Council on Foreign Relations, stated: The Saudis, Emiratis, and Qataris will race to outdo each other in welcoming the president. Then they will outdo each other in announcing the number of deals they can announce while the president is there.
According to the report, the trip is in many ways a repeat of Trump’s first foreign trip of his first term, when Saudi Arabia welcomed Trump with a lavish ceremony and announced billions in investments.
Steven Cook said that Gulf leaders know what the US president wants and are willing to present it to Trump, as there are other issues they don’t want Trump to ask about.
National Public Radio also emphasized in the report that “Trump’s biggest political goals are currently out of reach.”
The report listed Trump’s “big goals” in the region for his second term as ending the war in Gaza, preventing Iran’s progress toward becoming a nuclear power, and persuading Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with [the regime] by joining what is known as the Abraham Accords.
However, Dennis Ross, who worked on Middle East issues in the administrations of George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, said that Saudi Arabia, which has long called for an independent Palestinian state, is unlikely to be interested in such agreements at this time because of the war in Gaza.
He also stressed that any discussions on these agreements would likely take place behind closed doors.