22.05.2025 06:47
184
Did Trump really sign $2 trillion worth of deals with the Gulf states?
Sanjar Said:
Is it true that Trump signed $2 trillion worth of deals with the Gulf states?
Trump's four-day trip to the Middle East saw more than $2 trillion in deals announced. The trip began in Saudi Arabia, where it was announced that a total of $600 billion in deals had been signed.
"It's been a great four days, a truly historic four days," Trump told reporters after returning to Washington from a trip to the Gulf last week.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he noted in his usual style: "This level of jobs and this amount of money - this has never happened before."
The president announced that a number of trade agreements were signed during the trip, resulting in a total of more than $2 trillion in US trade.
The organization of the trip was truly global: all three Gulf states did everything they could to impress Trump.
As a result, the visit program included not only luxurious welcome concerts, but also a military aircraft escorting the presidential plane, a 21-gun salute in honor of the distinguished guest, a fleet of Tesla cyber trucks, royal camels, purebred Arabian horses, sword dances, and other exotic spectacles.
The UAE awarded Trump the Order of Zayed, the country's highest honor, which is only given to leaders of certain friendly countries.
The appearance of the visit was impressive and solemn: the richest oil states of the Middle East, promoting their economic interests, demonstrated their willingness to spend large sums of money to strengthen relations with the United States, not just through luxury and wealth, but in an open and visible way.
Before his flight to the Middle East, Trump proudly called himself the "Commander-in-Chief of Treaties" and made it clear that the main goal of the visit was to attract billions of dollars in investment. And at first glance, that goal seemed to be achieved.
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed the country's commitment to invest $600 billion in a joint partnership with the United States.
This amount includes a wide range of agreements, including arms supplies, developments in artificial intelligence, healthcare, infrastructure projects, and scientific cooperation.
The $142 billion arms deal has garnered particular attention. The White House has called it the largest arms sale in history.
However, the authenticity of these numbers is questioned.
During his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, Trump said that trade between the United States and Saudi Arabia had reached $450 billion.
However, according to data collected by the Gulf Arab States Institute, real trade and investment flows between 2017 and 2020 did not even reach $300 billion.
The author of this report is Tim Cullen, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission chief in Saudi Arabia and currently a research fellow at the Gulf Arab States Institute.
"In fact, we can only talk about these agreements when we see them implemented," he believes.
He adds that the agreements with the UAE and Saudi Arabia on cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) played a decisive role in this partnership, because "it is clear that there are those who are trying to understand how to build a new global order and how to shape interactions."
The focus on AI reflects the technology's growing strategic importance and its status as a top priority for American diplomats. Trump was accompanied on the trip by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Grok AI founder Elon Musk.
Ahead of the visit, the White House lifted tough restrictions on the export of advanced American chips imposed by the Biden administration, allowing some countries to freely use the high-tech chips while denying others access.
The remaining 120 or so countries, including the Gulf states, are caught between these two extremes, with strict restrictions on the number of chips they can import from the US, which has particularly upset countries like Saudi Arabia, which is planning to move away from oil and is rushing to diversify its economy with new technologies.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are rushing to build large data centers based on artificial intelligence, and the UAE's capital, Abu Dhabi, aims to become the world's AI hub.
The UAE is making serious efforts to appease Washington: deepening partnerships with American technology companies, limiting ties with Chinese companies, and strengthening close cooperation with the United States on national security.
According to Al-Saif, the UAE is "trusting the Americans in the matter of artificial intelligence": "We saw that the technological revolution of the 1990s began precisely in the United States."
After Saudi Arabia, Trump headed to Qatar.
Trump's visit was hailed by both sides as a "total victory." For the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, it was an opportunity to revive a partnership that had faded under the Biden administration and once again demonstrate Riyadh's geopolitical influence in the world.
For Trump, the visit served to justify and portray his economic program as effective, amid his claims of "trillions" of new investment. The tariffs he imposed have disrupted global trade and led to the first decline in US industrial production in three years.
The agreements reached in the Persian Gulf are being cited by Trump as a success of his economic policies.
Is it true that Trump signed $2 trillion worth of deals with the Gulf states?
Trump's four-day trip to the Middle East saw more than $2 trillion in deals announced. The trip began in Saudi Arabia, where it was announced that a total of $600 billion in deals had been signed.
"It's been a great four days, a truly historic four days," Trump told reporters after returning to Washington from a trip to the Gulf last week.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), he noted in his usual style: "This level of jobs and this amount of money - this has never happened before."
The president announced that a number of trade agreements were signed during the trip, resulting in a total of more than $2 trillion in US trade.
The organization of the trip was truly global: all three Gulf states did everything they could to impress Trump.
As a result, the visit program included not only luxurious welcome concerts, but also a military aircraft escorting the presidential plane, a 21-gun salute in honor of the distinguished guest, a fleet of Tesla cyber trucks, royal camels, purebred Arabian horses, sword dances, and other exotic spectacles.
The UAE awarded Trump the Order of Zayed, the country's highest honor, which is only given to leaders of certain friendly countries.
The appearance of the visit was impressive and solemn: the richest oil states of the Middle East, promoting their economic interests, demonstrated their willingness to spend large sums of money to strengthen relations with the United States, not just through luxury and wealth, but in an open and visible way.
Before his flight to the Middle East, Trump proudly called himself the "Commander-in-Chief of Treaties" and made it clear that the main goal of the visit was to attract billions of dollars in investment. And at first glance, that goal seemed to be achieved.
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman confirmed the country's commitment to invest $600 billion in a joint partnership with the United States.
This amount includes a wide range of agreements, including arms supplies, developments in artificial intelligence, healthcare, infrastructure projects, and scientific cooperation.
The $142 billion arms deal has garnered particular attention. The White House has called it the largest arms sale in history.
However, the authenticity of these numbers is questioned.
During his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021, Trump said that trade between the United States and Saudi Arabia had reached $450 billion.
However, according to data collected by the Gulf Arab States Institute, real trade and investment flows between 2017 and 2020 did not even reach $300 billion.
The author of this report is Tim Cullen, a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission chief in Saudi Arabia and currently a research fellow at the Gulf Arab States Institute.
"In fact, we can only talk about these agreements when we see them implemented," he believes.
He adds that the agreements with the UAE and Saudi Arabia on cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) played a decisive role in this partnership, because "it is clear that there are those who are trying to understand how to build a new global order and how to shape interactions."
The focus on AI reflects the technology's growing strategic importance and its status as a top priority for American diplomats. Trump was accompanied on the trip by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Grok AI founder Elon Musk.
Ahead of the visit, the White House lifted tough restrictions on the export of advanced American chips imposed by the Biden administration, allowing some countries to freely use the high-tech chips while denying others access.
The remaining 120 or so countries, including the Gulf states, are caught between these two extremes, with strict restrictions on the number of chips they can import from the US, which has particularly upset countries like Saudi Arabia, which is planning to move away from oil and is rushing to diversify its economy with new technologies.
Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are rushing to build large data centers based on artificial intelligence, and the UAE's capital, Abu Dhabi, aims to become the world's AI hub.
The UAE is making serious efforts to appease Washington: deepening partnerships with American technology companies, limiting ties with Chinese companies, and strengthening close cooperation with the United States on national security.
According to Al-Saif, the UAE is "trusting the Americans in the matter of artificial intelligence": "We saw that the technological revolution of the 1990s began precisely in the United States."
After Saudi Arabia, Trump headed to Qatar.
Trump's visit was hailed by both sides as a "total victory." For the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, it was an opportunity to revive a partnership that had faded under the Biden administration and once again demonstrate Riyadh's geopolitical influence in the world.
For Trump, the visit served to justify and portray his economic program as effective, amid his claims of "trillions" of new investment. The tariffs he imposed have disrupted global trade and led to the first decline in US industrial production in three years.
The agreements reached in the Persian Gulf are being cited by Trump as a success of his economic policies.