Trump to Visit Saudi Arabia in May; Objectives and Challenges of the Trip

Axios reports, citing American officials and an informed source, that Donald Trump, the President of the United States, plans to visit Saudi Arabia in his first foreign trip during his second presidential term. The visit is expected to take place in mid-May. This trip is being planned while the U.S. government is working to resume a ceasefire in Gaza and pressuring the extremist group Hamas to release more Israeli hostages. Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Europe. Donald Trump also made his first foreign trip to Saudi Arabia during his first term. He stated to reporters on March 4 that 'the last time I went to Saudi Arabia, they invested $450 billion in the U.S.' Can Saudi Arabia mediate between Tehran and Washington? An American official told Axios that the U.S. government is considering an international trip starting from Saudi Arabia. This official added that the focus will be on foreign investments, developing relations with Gulf Arab countries, and ending tensions in the Middle East. The White House and the Saudi embassy in the U.S. have declined to comment on this report. Trump previously mentioned about his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia: 'Now they are wealthier. We are all older. So I told them I would go to Saudi Arabia if you pay American companies $1 trillion, or in other words, buy $1 trillion worth over four years. They agreed. As a result, I will go there. I have very good relations with them. They will spend a lot of money on American companies, buying military equipment and other things.' Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, stated on January 24 that his country will invest $600 billion in the U.S. over four years, adding that Riyadh is also considering further investments. Masoud Al-Fak, a Middle East expert, told Radio Farda about the signs of the President's first trip to Saudi Arabia, stating that this choice emphasizes Trump's focus on strategic relations with Riyadh, as 'Riyadh is a key ally for the U.S., and Trump wants to continue the same path he took during his first presidency with the Saudis.' He added: 'This could include arms contracts, economic cooperation, and coordination against groups in the region that the U.S. considers proxy or terrorist.' On the other hand, the U.S. government is trying to get Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords; normalization agreements with Israel that several Arab and Islamic countries, led by the UAE and Bahrain, joined during Trump's previous administration with Washington's mediation. Masoud Al-Fak confirmed that achieving this goal could be among the objectives of the President's trip to Saudi Arabia, while emphasizing that Riyadh will not back down from its precondition for establishing normalization relations with Israel. This Middle East expert told Radio Farda: 'For Saudi Arabia, as the most important Arab and Islamic country with spiritual influence in the Islamic world, the issue of Palestine and achieving a fair solution based on the two-state plan is a priority, and the Crown Prince and the Saudi government have repeatedly announced this.' He stated that Saudi Arabia does not seek the destruction of Israel, saying that Saudi Arabia 'agrees with Israel's presence in the region based on a fair solution based on UN resolutions and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that can coexist alongside Israel.' The two-state plan was proposed by Arab leaders at their 2002 summit in Beirut, Lebanon, known as the 'Arab Peace Initiative.' According to this plan, which has also been approved by the UN Security Council, Arab countries called for an independent Palestinian state to be established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. Meanwhile, the planning of Trump's potential trip to Saudi Arabia comes as the U.S. has once again put its 'maximum pressure' policy on Iran on the agenda, aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Additionally, the U.S. conducts daily bombings of Houthi positions in Yemen, which are allied with Tehran; a group that the U.S. considers terrorist. Masoud Al-Fak stated that Washington will likely seek to coordinate with Riyadh regarding 'maximum pressure' on Tehran, adding: 'The U.S. will try to align Saudi Arabia with maximum pressure on Iran through the sale of advanced weapons that Saudi Arabia desires. However, I believe Riyadh does not want to enter the tension between the U.S. and Iran as a party, as relations between the two have returned to a level of normalization, and Riyadh does not want to backtrack on this.' He emphasized, however, that in terms of Iranian-affiliated groups such as the Houthis in Yemen and other proxy groups, Riyadh may carry out more coordination. In any case, if Donald Trump travels to Saudi Arabia, it could initiate new developments in the Middle East.