President Donald Trump said the first presidential trip of his second term will likely include visits to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar as early as May, with additional stops. “It could be next month, it could be a little later,” Trump said Monday in the Oval Office, Axios has reported. Four sources briefed on the matter said the trip is being considered for mid-May.
The president’s remarks came after Axios reported that White House officials were planning Trump’s first visit to Saudi Arabia in mid-May to thank the Gulf country for its planned investment in U.S. industry. Trump made Saudi Arabia and Israel his first stops on his first foreign trip during his first term in 2017.
Trump’s first presidential trip of his second term
On Monday, Trump said he was visiting Saudi Arabia during his first term after pledging $450 billion in American investment. Trump, echoing remarks he made in early March, said his trip to Saudi Arabia would seal a deal to invest more than $1 trillion in the U.S. economy, including military equipment. He suggested similar deals would be signed in Qatar and the UAE. “I look at it as jobs more than anything else, and we’re getting close to a trillion dollars now,” Trump said. “So that’s more than double what we got when I first took office.” “There’s going to be a huge amount of jobs created in those two or three days,” Trump said. The president did not elaborate.
Other topics likely to be discussed include Russia’s three-year war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza, one source said. Trump did not mention Saudi Arabia’s role in negotiating a possible summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the fighting in Ukraine. The US president has previously said the pair could hold talks there but has expressed frustration in recent days with the pace of talks. Earlier on Monday, Trump said he remained confident Putin would ultimately support a ceasefire deal.
UAE to invest up to $1.4 trillion in US
The UAE also said it would invest up to $1.4 trillion in the US over the next decade if it can gain access to advanced semiconductors as part of the nation’s efforts to build its artificial intelligence infrastructure. Trump did not specify where the additional stops might be, although he had previously accepted an invitation from King Charles to make a state visit to the United Kingdom.
“The possibility of international travel for the president is something that is being considered. We do not have a specific plan yet, and we will provide that information when it becomes official,” a White House spokesman said before Trump’s speech. Trump last week pledged to add more countries to the Abraham Accords, a series of normalization agreements that his administration negotiated between Israel and several Gulf states during his first term.