Trump heads to the Gulf aiming to boost trade ties and end regional conflicts
US President Donald Trump departed from the White House on Monday for a four-day visit to the Gulf, where he will aim to bolster economic ties, push for a ceasefire in Gaza and advance nuclear talks with Iran. Mr Trump pumped his fist in the air shortly before he departed from Joint Base Andrews aboard Air Force One. He will briefly stop in Suffolk, England, to refuel before landing in Riyadh early on Tuesday. 'I'm about to depart on a historic visit … to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates,' he said at a press conference. Though Mr Trump is expected to focus on securing billion-dollar investments from Gulf nations, the visit comes amid several regional and global conflicts. After a fragile ceasefire in Gaza collapsed more than two months ago, Israel has intensified its daily strikes on the coastal strip and blocked the entry of all food, medicine and other supplies, worsening the humanitarian situation in the battered territory. On Monday, US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, who is also an Israeli soldier, was released by Hamas, possibly setting the stage for an imminent ceasefire. 'I'm very happy to announce that Edan Alexander, an American citizen who, until recently, most thought was no longer living, thought to be dead, is going to be released in about two hours,' Mr Trump said ahead of his release, adding that he is the only living American citizen still being held by Hamas in Gaza. The war started on October 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage. Israel responded by launching a massive military campaign in Gaza, where more than 52,800 Palestinians have been killed in daily strikes and much of the territory has been laid to waste. Qatar, Mr Trump's second stop, has been mediating ceasefire efforts alongside the US and Egypt. Gulf leaders are expected to press the US President for answers on his vision for a postwar Gaza, and for clarity regarding Israel's conduct. Mr Trump is nearly four months into his second term in the White House. Last time he was president eight years ago, he also went to the Middle East on his first trip abroad. But unlike last time, he is not expected to visit Israel, drawing speculation of tension with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Last week, the Trump administration said it is working on a 'responsible' plan to ensure aid can enter without it ending up 'in the hands of terrorists'. Israel would not be involved in food distribution under the new plan. Mr Trump also wants to advance talks that would curb Iran's nuclear programme. Striking a friendlier tone than in past comments, he said Tehran was 'very reasonable' in the negotiations. 'We want Iran to be wealthy and wonderful and happy and great, but they can't have nuclear weapons, very simple,' he said. The latest round of talks concluded in Iran on Sunday, with Tehran saying discussions were 'difficult but useful'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
22 minutes ago
- The National
LA protesters burn cars and block road as thousands rally against Donald Trump's immigration crackdown
Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday in response to Donald Trump 's extraordinary deployment of the National Guard, blocking off a major road and setting cars on fire as law enforcement used tear gas and rubber bullets to control the crowd. Police patrolled the streets on horseback while other officers in riot gear lined up behind Guard troops deployed to protect federal facilities, including a detention centre where immigrants were taken in recent days. Police declared an unlawful assembly. Protesters grabbed chairs from a nearby public park to form a makeshift barrier, throwing objects at police on the other side. Others standing above the closed motorway threw chunks of concrete, rocks, electric scooters and fireworks at California Highway Patrol officers and their vehicles parked on the motorway. Officers ran under an overpass to take cover. It was the third day of demonstrations against an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, with the arrival of around 300 federal troops spurring anger and fear among residents. Mr Trump ran for election last year on a campaign promise to conduct the largest deportation drive in the nation's history. Since taking office, he has charged US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal law enforcement agency, with detaining people living in the US without documentation. The White House recently set a goal for its agents to arrest at least 3,000 migrants a day. Thousands have been swiftly deported, sometimes without due process. The sweeping raids have also affected people with no criminal record and others who are legal residents in the US. More than 200 migrants, primarily from Venezuela, have been sent to a prison in El Salvador. On Sunday in downtown Los Angeles at least four self-driving Waymo cars were set on fire, sending large plumes of black smoke into the sky as the electric vehicles burned. By the evening, police had issued an unlawful assembly order shutting down several blocks. Flash bangs echoed out every few seconds into the evening. Mr Trump wrote on his on Truth Social platform that the National Guard were doing a 'great job'. 'These radical left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will not be tolerated,' he said, adding that protesters would not be allowed to wear masks. He had previously directed his administration to take all 'necessary' action to 'liberate' Los Angeles. 'Order will be restored, the illegals will be expelled, and Los Angeles will be set free,' he said. California Governor Gavin Newsom requested in a letter that Mr Trump remove the National Guard, calling their deployment unlawful and a 'serious breach of state sovereignty'. Mr Newsom accused Mr Trump of trying to manufacture a crisis. 'These are the acts of a dictator, not a President,' he wrote in a post on X. The deployment of National Guard troops appeared to be the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor, a significant escalation against those who have sought to hinder the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass echoed Mr Newsom's comments. 'What we're seeing in Los Angeles is chaos that is provoked by the administration,' she said in an afternoon press conference. 'This is about another agenda, this isn't about public safety.' Their admonishments did not deter the Trump administration. 'It's a bald-faced lie for Newsom to claim there was no problem in Los Angeles before President Trump got involved,' White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement in response. The arrival of the National Guard followed two days of protests that began on Friday in downtown Los Angeles before spreading on Saturday to Paramount, a heavily Latino area south of the city, and neighbouring Compton. Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the US, is home to a large immigrant community, predominantly from Mexico and other parts of Central and South America. On Friday federal agents arrested immigrants in LA's fashion district, in a Home Depot car park and at several other locations. The next day, agents were seen at a Department of Homeland Security office near another Home Depot in Paramount, which drew out protesters who suspected another raid. Federal authorities later said there was no enforcement activity at that Home Depot. The week-long tally of immigrant arrests in the LA area has climbed above 100, federal authorities said. Many more were arrested while protesting, including a prominent union leader who was accused of impeding law enforcement. The protests did not reach the size of past demonstrations that brought the National Guard to Los Angeles, including the Watts and Rodney King riots of the 1960s and 1990s, and the 2020 protests against police violence, in which Mr Newsom requested the assistance of federal troops. The last time the National Guard was activated without a governor's permission was in 1965, when President Lyndon B. Johnson sent troops to protect a civil rights march in Alabama, according to the Brennan Centre for Justice. In a directive on Saturday, Mr Trump invoked a legal provision allowing him to deploy federal service members when there is 'a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States'. Mr Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in New Jersey on Sunday that there were 'violent people' in Los Angeles 'and they're not gonna get away with it'. 'We're gonna have troops everywhere. We're not going to let this happen to our country. We're not going to let our country be torn apart like it was under Biden,' he said. About 500 Marines stationed at Twentynine Palms, about 200 kilometres east of Los Angeles, were in a 'prepared to deploy status' on Sunday afternoon, according to the US Northern Command. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lives in Los Angeles, said the immigration arrests and National Guard deployment were designed as part of a 'cruel, calculated agenda to spread panic and division'. She said she supports those 'standing up to protect our most fundamental rights and freedoms'. US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the National Guard are 'specifically trained for this type of crowd situation'. 'Governor Newsom has proven that he makes bad decisions,' Ms Noem told CBS on Sunday. 'The President knows that he makes bad decisions, and that's why the President chose the safety of this community over waiting for Governor Newsom to get some sanity.'
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Trump's immigration crackdown: What is ICE? All you need to know about LA protests
US President Donald Trump on June 7 ordered the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops from California to Los Angeles in response to growing protests over recent immigration raids. The protests, which have been widely discussed on social media under the hashtags #ICEraids #ICEProtests and #LAProtest, began on June 6 after federal immigration agents from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) conducted several large-scale raids across Los Angeles. Tensions reached a peak in Los Angeles with the protests stretching into a third consecutive day. These operations are part of President Trump's broader crackdown on undocumented immigrants, which has intensified in recent months. Here's a look at what's happening in Los Angeles and what led to the protests: What is ICE? ICE, which stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is a law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. It began operating in 2003 after a major government effort to boost national security in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The law enforcement agency is playing a key role in the Trump administration's plans to crack down on illegal immigration. Donald Trump has vowed to deport record numbers of illegal immigrants during his second term, and the White House has set ICE a goal to arrest at least 3,000 migrants each day. Because of that pressure, people who were legally living in the US have been caught up in ICE raids. One of the most notable arrests during these operations was that of 238 men, accused of being Venezuelan gang members, who were deported without being given a chance to stand trial. They were sent directly to a high-security prison in El Salvador, a move that has drawn significant criticism. Why are people protesting the arrests? It's not uncommon for ICE to arrest people it believes are residing illegally in the US. But why are these raids sparking such strong opposition? The agency has faced increasing criticism for using 'extreme tactics' during the raids. ICE frequently publishes social media updates detailing the number of arrests made and even shares photos of those detained. The arrests, being carried out publicly, are seen by many as an effort to sow fear in immigrant communities. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the raids, arguing that they would "sow terror" in neighbourhoods where many residents are undocumented. In a statement posted on X, Mayor Bass also emphasised that her office "will not stand for this". We will not stand for this. — Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) June 6, 2025 The nature of the raids has been particularly controversial. ICE operations have targeted locations like hardware stores, garment factories, and warehouses, where many undocumented workers are employed. "I am deeply angered by what has taken place," Mayor Bass said in a statement. In another statement posted on X, she also emphasised the fear these raids generate for families. As a result of immigration raids, parents are afraid to take their kids to school, workers are unsure if they should go to work tomorrow, and young people are worried about their future. That does not make L.A. safer. We are strong. We are resilient. We are in this together. — Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) June 9, 2025 Why was Los Angeles targeted? Los Angeles, in particular, has been a primary target for ICE. Since Trump returned to office, California, along with other states like New York and Illinois, has seen a surge in immigration enforcement activity, according to a report published by Axios on June 3. These states are considered "blue" because they mostly vote in favour of the Democratic Party in presidential election, and are home to large immigrant populations. California, for example, has the largest immigrant population in the US, with nearly 10.6 million foreign-born residents, making up about 22 per cent of the nation's total immigrant population. Of those, approximately 1.8 million were undocumented as of 2022, according to the Pew Research Center. In a post on Truth Social, Trump declared that Los Angeles had been "invaded" by "illegal aliens and criminals", framing the immigration issue as a national security threat.
Khaleej Times
2 hours ago
- Khaleej Times
Hamas military chief Sinwar's body found in tunnel under Gaza hospital
The Israeli army said on Sunday it had retrieved the body of Hamas' military chief Mohammed Sinwar in an underground tunnel beneath a hospital in southern Gaza, following a targeted operation last month. Another senior Hamas leader, Mohammad Shabana, commander of the Rafah Brigade, was also found dead at the scene along with a number of other militants, who are still being identified, said IDF spokesperson, Brigadier General Effie Defrin. Israeli forces gave a small group of foreign reporters a tour of the tunnel that had been uncovered beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis, which Defrin said was a major command and control compound for Hamas. "This is another example of the cynical use by Hamas, using civilians as human shields, using civilian infrastructure, hospitals, again and again," said Defrin. "We found underneath the hospital, right under the emergency room, a compound of a few rooms. In one of them we found, we killed Mohammed Sinwar," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sinwar's death last month, but Defrin said they now had his DNA which proved beyond doubt it was him. Hamas has not commented on reports of the death of either Sinwar or Shabana. Sinwar was the younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Palestinian group's deceased leader and mastermind of the October 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people according to Israeli tallies, and which triggered the brutal Israeli attacks in Gaza. Shabana was one of Hamas's most senior and battle-hardened commanders in southern Gaza. He played a central role in constructing the network of tunnels under the southern city of Rafah, which were used for ambushes and cross-border raids. Destruction The drive to Khan Younis in Israeli military vehicles showed widespread devastation, with countless buildings lying in ruins, and piles of rubble collected at the roadside. The Israeli military has raided or besieged numerous hospitals during the war, alleging that Hamas uses them to conceal fighters and orchestrate operations — a charge Hamas has repeatedly denied. While Israel has presented evidence in certain cases, some of its assertions remain unverified. Defrin said the army had carefully planned the strike near the European Hospital in order not to damage it. A large trench dug infront of the Emergency Room entrance led down to a hole in the claustrophobic, concrete tunnel, that was used as a hideaway by Hamas fighters, the army said. During the search of the site, Israeli forces recovered weapon stockpiles, ammunition, cash and documents that are now being reviewed for intelligence value. "We will dismantle Hamas because we cannot live with this terror organisation right in our backyard, right across our border," Defrin said. More than 54,000 Palestinians have died during the ongoing Israeli attacks, according to Gaza health authorities. The UN has warned that most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is at risk of famine.
