Trump’s Middle East trip has no overarching diplomatic goal, instead it is focused largely on boosting business ties between the U.S. and the region that is vital to the Trump family’s own financial interests.
Moments after touching down in Saudi Arabia, Trump was greeted at the airport by the head of the Saudi Wealth Fund, which has invested $2 billion with Jared Kushner’s fund and in the LIV Golf tour that has hosted multiple events at Trump properties.
President Donald Trump and the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman talk before a coffee ceremony at the Royal Court in Riyadh on May 13, 2025.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
The president’s sons who now run the Trump Organization have lucrative real estate deals in the works in all three countries the president is visiting this week, including a $5.5 billion golf resort just north of Doha, where the president will be Wednesday.
The Trump cryptocurrency business also recently announced a deal including a $2 billion contribution from an affiliate of the United Arab Emirates, where the president concludes his trip.
-ABC News’ Mary Bruce and Ben Siegel