Trump attends Qatari state dinner after announcing deals on second day of Middle East tour

Summary

Donald Trump attends a state dinner in Doha after announcing a series of deals between the US and Qatar - including a "record" order of Boeing jets
His visit could be seen as an acknowledgement of the role Qatar serves for the US - but the president's business empire also has dealings with the Arab nation, writes our correspondent Anthony Zurcher
Before flying there, Trump met his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, urging him to normalise relations with Israel
On the second leg of a four-day Middle East tour, Trump praised Sharaa as an "attractive guy, tough guy"
He later said it's possible he could fly to Turkey tomorrow to attend talks between Ukraine and Russia

Live Reporting

Edited by Nathan Williams and Jacqueline Howard, with North America editor Sarah Smith in Doha and Lina Sinjab in Damascus

When Trump met Saudi's Crown Prince in 2019published at 07:37 British Summer Time 13 May
In 2019, Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met during a G20 summit held in Japan.
The two men posed for photos alongside other world leaders. We've picked out a handful of images from the bilateral meetings and the main working sessions with Trump and Saudi's Crown Prince.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Trump shaking hands with Mohammed bin Salman
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Trump and Mohammed bin Salman at a session on women's workforce participation, future of work and aging societies at the summit
Image source, Getty Images
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Trump and bin Salman spoke during a breakfast in Osaka at the time
Turbulence over Qatar jet gift escalates as Trump heads to Middle Eastpublished at 07:24 British Summer Time 13 May
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Qatar has reportedly offered Donald Trump a jet to replace Air Force One
Ahead of his Middle East visit, Donald Trump defended the White House plan to receive a luxury jumbo jet from Qatar - to be used as America's Air Force One presidential plane.
"They're giving us a gift," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, adding that he would be "a stupid person" if he did not accept it.
In an earlier statement, a Qatari spokesman said it would be "inaccurate" to refer to the plane as a gift. He said the transfer of an aircraft for "temporary use" was under discussion between the two countries.
The potential value of the plane and its handling has raised legal and ethical questions among critics, notably Democratic lawmakers.
The US Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which restricts what gifts US presidents can accept from foreign governments. It was designed to prevent leaders from becoming beholden to foreign governments.
- Our news story has more on how Qatar is reported to be offering a Being 747-8, estimated to be worth around $400m (£303m) to the US president
Trump looking for new economic agreements in Middle Eastpublished at 07:10 British Summer Time 13 May
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
The Abraham Accords, which normalised relations between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain were one of the top diplomatic accomplishments of the first Trump presidency, and it will be celebrated when the US president visits Abu Dhabi later this week.
But hopes of expanding that breakthrough to other Arab nations – most notably Saudi Arabia – appear slim until the war in Gaza is resolved.
Instead, Trump is looking for new economic agreements - although the lines between national and personal deal-making in this administration can be blurred.
During his visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, Trump will push to fully open the spigots of Arab investment into the US.
His visit to Doha could overshadowed by the proposed $400m gift of a Qatari Boeing 747 to be used as a new presidential plane, and Trump's private company has a new cryptocurrency deal with Abu Dhabi investors that could raise eyebrows during his UAE stop.
US reached deal with Houthi rebels ahead of trippublished at 06:58 British Summer Time 13 May
Oman announced last week that it had brokered a truce between the US and Houthi rebels in Yemen following seven weeks of talks.
Trump said last week that the rebels had agreed to stop fighting.
"[The Houthis] just don't want to fight, and we will honour that and we will stop the bombings, and they have capitulated," he said.
Since November 2023, the Houthis - an Iran-backed rebel group in control of much of Yemen - have been carrying out attacks on ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Under former President Joe Biden the US launched strikes against the rebels, which have intensified under Trump. Britain’s Royal Air Force has also carried out strikes in recent weeks.
For context: The Houthis have said that the US changed its position and that the deal does not include an agreement to end attacks on Israel.
What's happening with Iran talks?published at 06:49 British Summer Time 13 May
Trump's Middle East trip comes as talks between the US and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme continue.
A fourth round of talks took place in Oman over the weekend, with both sides agreeing to meet again.
US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said the discussions in Muscat were encouraging, while Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described them as "difficult but useful".
The US has insisted that Iran must scrap its uranium enrichment to prevent the country developing nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies it has such an aim and on Sunday again stressed it did not intend to give up the programme.
Donald Trump pulled out of a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and five other world powers in 2018.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
The talks between Abbas Araghchi and Steve Witkoff in Oman lasted more than three hours
A key focus of Saudi Arabia trip is eyeing more investment in USpublished at 06:33 British Summer Time 13 May
Sameer Hashmi
Middle East business correspondent
The economic importance of the Middle East to Trump is highlighted by the fact that the visit to Saudi Arabia was due to be the first overseas trip of his second term in the White House.
That was before the death of Pope Francis necessitated Trump attending his funeral in Rome towards the end of April.
Saudi Arabia was also the first country that Trump visited during his first term of office, going against the modern practice of US presidents to start with the UK, Canada or Mexico.
Securing new investments in the US from Gulf states, and particularly from their state-backed sovereign wealth funds, will help Trump to signal back home that his "America First" agenda is delivering results.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment fund (PIF), which controls assets worth $925bn, already has numerous investments in the US. These include Uber, gaming firm Electronic Arts, and electric car firm Lucid.
- You can learn more about the economic importance of Saudi Arabia to the US
Trump's first foreign trip of second term has a familiar startpublished at 06:26 British Summer Time 13 May
Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent
Donald Trump’s first major foreign trip of his second term has a familiar start – with a visit to the Saudi Arabia and a lavish state dinner and meetings with the desert nation’s royalty.
At the time, Trump touted the trip as leading to hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and hundreds of thousands of new American jobs.
Those figures have been hard to substantiate, however.
Now, Trump is returning to the region and once again, deals, investments and American economic benefits appear to be top of his mind – alongside or even ahead of major international security concerns, like the Gaza War, nuclear negotiations with Iran and the civil war in Yemen.
Trump heads to Middle East on his first diplomatic trippublished at 06:22 British Summer Time 13 May
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
The US president raised his fist as he boarded Air Force One
US President Donald Trump is due to arrive in Saudi Arabia in the next few hours at the start of the first major tour of his second term.
And he's breaking with tradition when it comes to a president's first foreign visit.
Historically, a president's first trip abroad has been used to visit key allies like Canada or Mexico. But Trump's trip to the Middle East signals shifting priorities for the US.
Over the coming days, Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE, with his delegation:
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio
- US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff
- Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth
We'll be following it all right here.