
Trump announces $200bln in deals during UAE visit, AI agreement signed
ABU DHABI: President Donald Trump on Thursday pledged to strengthen U.S. ties to the United Arab Emirates and announced deals with the Gulf state totalling over $200 billion and the two countries also agreed to deepen cooperation in artificial intelligence.
After Trump's meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the White House said he announced deals that included a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to invest in 28 Boeing 787 and 777x aircraft powered by engines made by GE Aerospace.
The U.S. Commerce Department said the two countries also agreed to establish a "US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership" framework and Trump and Sheikh Mohamed attended the unveiling of a new 5GW AI campus, which would be the largest outside the United States.
Sources have said the agreements will give the Gulf country expanded access to advanced artificial intelligence chips from the U.S. after previously facing restrictions over Washington's concerns that China could access the technology.
Trump began a visit to the UAE on the latest stage of a tour of wealthy Gulf states after hailing plans by Doha to invest $10 billion in a U.S. military facility during a trip to Qatar.
"I have absolutely no doubt that the relationship will only get bigger and better," Trump said in a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
"Your wonderful brother came to Washington a few weeks ago and he told us about your generous statement as to the 1.4 trillion," Trump said, referring to a UAE pledge to invest $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over 10 years.
Trump was referring to Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohamed's brother and the UAE's national security adviser and chairman of two of Abu Dhabi's deep-pocketed sovereign wealth funds.
The U.S. president was met at the airport in Abu Dhabi by Sheikh Mohamed, and they visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, its white minarets and domes, impressive in the late-afternoon light.
"It is so beautiful," Trump told reporters inside the mosque, which he said had been closed for the day.
"First time they closed it. It's in honor of the United States. Better than in honor of me. Let's give it to the country. That's a great tribute."
$200 BILLION IN NEW DEALS
A White House fact sheet said Trump had secured $200 billion in new U.S.-UAE deals and accelerated the previously committed $1.4 trillion.
It said Emirates Global Aluminum would invest to develop a $4 billion primary aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, while ExxonMobil Corp, Occidental Petroleum, and EOG Resources were partnering with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in expanded oil and natural gas production valued at $60 billion.
Sheikh Mohamed told Trump the UAE was "keen to continue and strengthen this friendship for the benefit of the two countries and peoples," adding to Trump: "your presence here today, your excellency, the president, confirms that this keenness is mutual."
Before his departure for the UAE, Trump said in a speech to U.S. troops at the Al Udeid Air Base southwest of Doha that defence purchases signed by Qatar on Wednesday were worth $42 billion.
UAE has been seeking U.S. help to make the wealthy Gulf nation a global leader in artificial intelligence.
The U.S. has a preliminary agreement with the UAE to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia's most advanced AI chips a year, starting this year, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The deal would boost the UAE's construction of data centres vital to developing AI models, although the agreement has provoked national security concerns among sectors of the U.S. government.
The AI agreement "includes the UAE committing to invest in, build, or finance U.S. data centers that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the UAE," the White House said.
"The agreement also contains historic commitments by the UAE to further align their national security regulations with the United States, including strong protections to prevent the diversion of U.S.-origin technology."
Former U.S. President Joe Biden's administration had imposed strict oversight of exports of U.S. AI chips to the Middle East and other regions. Among Biden's fears were that the prized semiconductors would be diverted to China and buttress its military strength.
At the UAE presidential palace, Trump and Sheikh Mohamed could be seen in TV footage in conversation with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Trump said he would probably return to Washington on Friday after a regional trip that began on Tuesday, although he said it was "almost destination unknown." Trump had hinted he could stop in Istanbul for talks on Ukraine.
DEALS, DIPLOMACY
Other big business agreements have been signed during Trump's four-day swing through the Gulf region, including a deal for Qatar Airways to purchase up to 210 Boeing widebody jets, a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S. and $142 billion in U.S. arms sales to the kingdom.
The trip has also brought a flurry of diplomacy.
Trump said in Qatar that the United States was getting very close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, and Tehran had "sort of" agreed to the terms.
He also announced on Tuesday the U.S. would remove longstanding sanctions on Syria and subsequently met with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
He urged Sharaa to establish ties with Syria's longtime foe Israel.
Trump has made improving ties with some Gulf countries a key goal of his administration. If all the proposed chip deals in Gulf states, and the UAE in particular, come together, the region would become a third power centre in global AI competition after the United States and China. (Reporting by Gram Slattery and Andrew Mills in Doha and Federico Maccioni, Nayera Abdallah and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Additional reporting by Yousef Saba, Karen Freifeld and Hadeel Al Sayegh; Writing by Michael Georgy, Gram Slattery, Timothy Heritage Matt Spetalnick and David Brunnstrom; Editing by Andrew Heavens, William Maclean and Alistair Bell)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Zawya
33 minutes ago
- Zawya
IAEA chief relays Iran warning against Israeli strikes on nuclear facilities
CAIRO: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said Iranians warned him that an Israel strike on the country's nuclear facilities could cause Iran to be more determined about developing a nuclear weapon, according to an interview broadcast and published on Monday. 'A strike could potentially have an amalgamating effect, solidifying Iran's determination – I will say it plainly – to pursue a nuclear weapon or withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,' Grossi said in the interview, published on the Jerusalem Post website and broadcast on i24NEWS TV on Monday. Grossi, however, doubted that Israel would strike Tehran's nuclear facilities, the Jerusalem Post reported. The Iranian nuclear program "runs wide and deep," Grossi told the Jerusalem Post. "Disrupting them would require overwhelming and devastating force." Tehran and Washington have recently engaged in Oman-mediated nuclear talks. Iran is set to hand a counter-proposal for a nuclear deal to the United States via Oman, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, in response to a U.S. offer that Tehran deems "unacceptable". Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to take actions that could disrupt nuclear talks with Iran. "I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we're very close to a solution now," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "That could change at any moment." Trump and Netanyahu are expected to speak over the phone on Monday.


Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
Asian markets extend gains as China-US talks head into second day
10 June 2025 08:33 Hong Kong (AFP) Asian stocks squeezed out more gains Tuesday as the latest round of China-US trade talks moved into a second day, with one of Donald Trump's top advisers saying he expected "a big, strong handshake".There is optimism the negotiations -- which come after the US president spoke to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping last week -- will bring some much-needed calm to markets and ease tensions between the economic advances in Asian equities built on Monday's rally and followed a broadly positive day on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 edged closer to the record high touched earlier in the week's meeting in London will look to smooth key issues on the agenda at the talks are expected to be exports of rare earth minerals used in a wide range of things including smartphones and electric vehicle batteries."In Geneva, we had agreed to lower tariffs on them, and they had agreed to release the magnets and rare earths that we need throughout the economy," Trump's top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, told CNBC on even though Beijing was releasing some supplies, "it was going a lot slower than some companies believed was optimal", he he said he expected "a big, strong handshake" at the end of the talks."Our expectation is that after the handshake, any export controls from the US will be eased, and the rare earths will be released in volume," Hassett also said the Trump administration might be willing to ease some recent curbs on tech president told reporters at the White House: "We are doing well with China. China's not easy."I'm only getting good reports."Tokyo led gains in Asian markets, with Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington and Jakarta also well up."The bulls will layer into risk on any rhetoric that publicly keeps the two sides at the table," said Pepperstone's Chris Weston."And with the meeting spilling over to a second day, the idea of some sort of loose agreement is enough to underpin the grind higher in US equity and risk exposures more broadly."Investors are also awaiting key US inflation data this week, which could impact the Federal Reserve's monetary policy amid warnings Trump's tariffs will refuel inflation strengthening the argument to keep interest rates on it also faces pressure from the president to cut rates, with bank officials due to make a decision at their meeting next week. While recent jobs data has eased concerns about the US economy, analysts remain cautious. Stock Markets Continue full coverage


Al Etihad
an hour ago
- Al Etihad
Trump deploying thousands more National Guard, US Marines to protest-hit LA
10 June 2025 08:27 Washington (AFP)President Donald Trump's administration said on Monday it was sending 700 US Marines and thousands more National Guard troops to Los Angeles, sparking a furious response from California's governor over the "deranged" had already mobilized 2,000 National Guard members to the country's second most populous city on Saturday, with some 300 taking up positions protecting federal buildings and officers on Monday -- the fourth day of protests against immigration raids in the city that have seen some scuffles with law enforcement -- the Trump administration announced the mobilization of the 700 Marines as well as an "additional" 2,000 National Guard.A senior administration official told AFP that "active-duty US Marines from Camp Pendleton will be deployed to Los Angeles to help protect federal agents and buildings." The official first gave a figure of 500 Marines, but later updated the number to active duty military personnel like US Marines into a community of civilians within the United States is a highly unusual US military separately confirmed the deployment of "approximately 700 Marines" from an infantry battalion following the would "seamlessly integrate" with National Guard forces that Trump deployed to Los Angeles on Saturday without the consent of California's Democratic Governor Gavin deployment was meant to ensure there were "adequate numbers of forces," it spokesman Sean Parnell then announced the mobilization of "an additional 2,000 California National Guard to be called into federal service to support ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) & to enable federal law-enforcement officers to safely conduct their duties."It was not immediately clear if the "additional" 2,000 guardsmen were on top of the 2,000 that had already been mobilized, or only the 300 that were already in the streets of Los wasted little time accusing the president of sowing "chaos" in Los Angeles."Trump is trying to provoke chaos by sending 4,000 soldiers onto American soil," the governor posted on X. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had first mentioned that the Marines could be deployed on Saturday.