Latest news with #DiplomaticTies
Al Jazeera
17-07-2025
- Business
- Al Jazeera
Trump hosts Qatar's PM for private dinner, meets Bahrain crown prince
President Donald Trump has hosted Qatar's prime minister for a private dinner and met with Bahrain's crown prince at the White House as part of a United States effort to address regional issues, including securing a Gaza ceasefire, and promote diplomatic ties with the Gulf region. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, the Qatari prime minister and a member of the country's ruling family, had a private dinner with Trump on Wednesday evening. Before this meal, Trump met with Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in the Oval Office. With little progress to share on the region's most pressing conflicts, including Israel's war on Gaza, Trump was more focused on Wednesday on promoting diplomatic ties as a vehicle for economic growth. Trump has lavished attention on the Gulf, a wealthy region where members of his family have extensive business relationships. In mid-May, he visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the first foreign policy trip of his second term. While in Qatar in mid-May, Trump complimented its palaces and stopped at the Al Udeid Air Base, the biggest US military base in the Middle East. The base was hit by Iran after the US bombed the country's nuclear facilities, hours before a ceasefire was declared in the US-Israel-Iran conflict. One ballistic missile made impact, while others were intercepted. The visit culminated in deals worth at least $1.2 trillion, including a major transaction for Qatar Airways to buy 210 aircraft from Boeing. Another deal included purchases of drone and anti-drone technology from US defence companies like Raytheon, and investments in the US energy sector. Trump wants to use a luxurious Boeing 747 donated by Qatar as his Air Force One, saying he is tired of waiting for Boeing to finish new planes. However, the arrangement has stirred concerns about security and the ethics of accepting a gift from a foreign government. Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations, said 'the Gulf represents everything that Trump believes is right about the Middle East. 'It's rich, it's stable, it's populated by authoritarians with whom the president feels very comfortable,' said Miller. During his earlier meeting with Al Khalifa, Trump said: 'Anything they needed, we helped them. And anything we needed, they helped us.' Bahrain is a longtime ally that hosts the US Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Middle East. Like other Arab leaders, Al Khalifa is eager to highlight the lucrative potential of diplomatic ties with the US, including $17bn worth of investments. 'And this is real,' he said. 'It's real money. These aren't fake deals.' According to the White House, the agreements include purchasing US aircraft, jet engines and computer servers. More investments could be made in aluminium production and artificial intelligence. Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the crown prince's father, is expected to visit Washington before the end of the year. An important part of the relationship will be an agreement, signed on Wednesday, to advance cooperation on civilian nuclear energy.
CTV News
17-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Trump hosts Gulf leaders at White House as new violence raises questions about progress toward peace
U.S. President Donald Trump and Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa speak in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump hosted a pair of Arab Gulf leaders at the White House on Wednesday as violence between Israel and Syria renewed doubts about his pledge to impose peace on the Middle East. Trump held a meeting in the Oval Office with Bahrain's crown prince and dined privately with Qatar's prime minister. The Republican president has lavished attention on the Gulf, a wealthy region where members of his family have extensive business relationships. He has already visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the first foreign policy trip of his second term. With little progress to share on the region's most intractable problems, including the war in Gaza, Trump was more focused Wednesday on promoting diplomatic ties as a vehicle for economic growth. 'Anything they needed, we helped them,' Trump said in the Oval Office while meeting with Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. 'And anything we needed, they helped us.' Meeting with Bahrain's crown prince Bahrain is a longtime ally that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, which operates in the Middle East. Like other Arab leaders, Al Khalifa was eager to highlight the lucrative potential of diplomatic ties with the U.S., including $17 billion of investments. 'And this is real,' he said. 'It's real money. These aren't fake deals.' According to the White House, the agreements include purchasing American airplanes, jet engines and computer servers. More investments could be made in aluminum production and artificial intelligence. Bahrain's king, the crown prince's father, is expected to visit Washington before the end of the year. An important part of the relationship will be an agreement, signed on Wednesday, to advance cooperation on civilian nuclear energy. Dinner with Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, the prime minister of Qatar and a member of the country's ruling family, was at the White House for a private dinner with Trump on Wednesday evening. Trump visited Qatar during his trip to the region, marveling at its palaces and stopping at the Al Udeid Air Base, a key U.S. military facility. The base was targeted by Iran after the U.S. bombed the country's nuclear facilities. One ballistic missile made impact, while others were intercepted. Trump wants to use a luxurious Boeing 747 donated by Qatar as his Air Force One because he's tired of waiting for Boeing to finish new planes. However, the arrangement has stirred concerns about security and the ethics of accepting a gift from a foreign government. Aaron David Miller, who served as an adviser on Middle East issues to Democratic and Republican administrations, said 'the Gulf represents everything that Trump believes is right about the Middle East.' 'It's rich, it's stable, it's populated by authoritarians with whom the president feels very comfortable,' he said. Fighting in Syria The fighting in Syria began with clashes between Sunni Bedouin tribes and Druze factions in the country's south. Government forces intervened, raising alarms in Israel, where the Druze are a politically influential religious minority. On Wednesday, Israel launched strikes in the Syrian capital of Damascus. A ceasefire was later announced, but it was unclear if it would hold. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in the Oval Office for Trump's meeting with the crown prince of Bahrain, said the fighting was the result of 'an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding.' He said 'we think we're on our way to a real de-escalation' that would allow Syria to 'get back on track' to rebuilding after years of civil war. Despite an international outcry over its punishing military operations in Gaza, Israel has successfully weakened its enemies around the region, including Hezbollah and Iran. 'There's a growing concern that Israel been a bigger sense of unpredictability,' Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said. He also warned that 'there's still no game plan to deal with the loose ends of Iran's nuclear program and its other activities in the region,' such as support for the Houthis. Chris Megerian, The Associated Press
CNN
09-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump wants to talk business with Africa in hopes of dimming Chinese influence. But a US summit this week excludes Africa's big players
The White House is hosting an 'African leaders' summit of sorts this week. But only five countries from the continent of 55 nations are welcome to join. Liberia said its president was one of five African heads of state invited by US President Donald Trump to attend a 'high-level summit' in Washington, DC, that intends 'to deepen diplomatic ties, advance shared economic goals, and enhance security cooperation' between Washington and 'select African nations.' Other invitees revealed by the Liberian presidency include the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal. However, none of Africa's big players, such as its largest economies South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, were asked to attend, according to Liberia. These nations are allied to BRICS, a group of emerging economies founded by Brazil, India, and America's adversaries, Russia and China. BRICS members face the threat of being hit with new tariffs from Trump for supporting 'anti-American' policies. Broader details of Trump's African leaders' summit have not been released by the White House, but analysts say his choice of invitees remains a conundrum, describing the shift in US policy on the continent as a 'high-stakes gamble.' Christopher Afoke Isike, a professor of African politics and international relations at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, describes Trump's handpicked guests for his US summit as 'low-hanging fruit' in his quest to counter Chinese and Russian influence in Africa. 'On one hand, Trump is desperate for some deal to show to his base that he is getting results for America. But some of these also align with his focus on countering Chinese influence in Africa and malign Russian activity which undermines US interests on the continent,' he told CNN. 'Most of the regional powers in Africa are either in BRICS as key members or are aspiring to join as key partners,' Isike said, adding that 'these five countries (attending the US summit) do not fall into that category and as such are a kind of low-hanging fruit.' China is Africa's largest bilateral trading partner while its ally Russia has expanded its footprint on the continent, emerging as a major supplier of military hardware. This is not the first time Trump has hosted a small group of African leaders in the US, deviating from the approach of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who hosted fuller gatherings of African heads of government while in the White House. During his first term in office — viewed by some as 'dismissive toward Africa' — Trump hosted a 'working lunch' in 2017 with nine African heads of state, whom he described as 'partners for promoting prosperity and peace on a range of economic, humanitarian, and security issues.' 'Africa has tremendous business potential,' Trump said in that meeting, which included the leaders of Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Now in his second term, Trump has kept an eye on Africa's mineral wealth, with the US keen to challenge China's access to critical minerals in the region. However, he advocates a transactional policy that swaps charity for strategic US investment. When a peace deal brokered by Trump was signed last month by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which harbors large deposits of minerals critical to the production of electronics, Trump told reporters that the accord allows the US to get 'a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo.' While the signed peace agreement does not specifically forfeit any mineral rights to the US, the document includes a framework 'to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains,' specifically to 'link both countries, in partnership, as appropriate, with the US government and US investors.' In a statement July 1, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the end of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which delivered US humanitarian aid overseas, saying that 'the countries that benefit the most from our generosity usually fail to reciprocate' and that future US aid and investment 'must be in furtherance of an America First foreign policy.' The Trump administration had previously canceled more than 80% of programs at USAID and has imposed 'reciprocal' tariffs on several countries, including many in Africa which Trump said had trade deficits with the US. South Africa has described the 'reciprocal' tariff which is due to take effect on August 1 as not based on 'an accurate representation of available trade data.' Trump has also banned travel for 12 mostly African and Middle Eastern nations – citing security risks – amid an aggressive clampdown on immigration by his administration. A mooted expansion of the travel restrictions would halt travel to the US for swathes of West Africa, if implemented. China, meanwhile, is softening the impact of US tariffs on Africa, announcing last month it would halt charges on imports for nearly all its African partners, except Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) which is friendly toward Taiwan — which China's ruling Communist Party claims as its own, despite never having controlled it. Although small economies, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Liberia are rich in mineral resources including oil and gas, gold, iron ore, and rare earth elements. The West and Central African nations are also a common departure point for would-be migrants to the US. Discussions at the Trump-hosted summit will extend beyond commerce, according to Ousmane Sene, who heads the Senegal-based research organization, the West African Research Center (WARC). 'There may be other stakes: migratory trends from West Africa to Nicaragua and then the US,' as well as 'security, as all of those (five) countries have an opening on the Atlantic Ocean,' Sene told CNN. Last year, the New York Times reported, citing government data, that the US was seeing an increasing number of African migrants at its southern border — rising from just over 13,000 in 2022 to 58,462 in 2023. Nationals from Mauritania and Senegal were top of the list, the report said. For Dakar-based journalist and political analyst Mamadou Thior, who covered the first US–Africa Leaders' Summit hosted by Obama in 2014, the leaders of the five African nations must 'be as clever as Donald Trump' when talks begin at the White House. 'Trump is a businessman. So only the interests of America interest him,' Thior said. 'The USAID, which was a key partner for countries like Senegal, no longer exists. It's up to them to talk to Trump, to see what new cooperation they can put forward.' In Isike's view, 'this meeting is going to inaugurate a new US diplomatic model — one that is transactionally tied to economic reform (and) trade outcomes for the US.' Nonetheless, the five African nations 'can expect to leverage private sector partnerships, investment, infrastructural development, and security cooperation with the US,' he said. These nations are not new to high-stakes relations with global powers. They have each been courted by China, which has boosted trade volumes between them and funded infrastructure in Gabon and Senegal. When Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in September, the former had kind words for the host nation. 'For Africa,' Embaló said, according to a statement by Chinese foreign ministry, 'China represents the future and is a brother.' 'Guinea-Bissau is willing to be a trustworthy friend and partner of China,' he added. Last month, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko was also full of praise for China, thanking it for awarding dozens 'of preparation scholarships' to his nation's athletes and coaches ahead of next year's Summer Youth Olympics. In the same statement, Sonko expressed frustration with the US decision to deny visas to 'several members of the Senegal women's national basketball team' — a leading force in African women's basketball — forcing them to cancel a training camp they had scheduled in the US. With a wider African leaders' summit mooted by the White House for later in the year, Trump has made one thing clear, according to Isike: an urgent shift 'from traditional aid to strategic commerce-driven engagement.' However, the shift is 'a high-stakes gamble that aligns with America's goal to reset its influence in Africa through investment but also to counter China and foster economically self-reliant African partners,' Isike added. 'Enabling Africa to be self-reliant is not because he (Trump) loves Africa, but because he doesn't have patience with countries that only want handouts from the US,' Isike said, adding that 'these trade deals and the meeting (this week) aligns with the US' priority to favor countries that are able to help themselves.'
CNN
09-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump wants to talk business with Africa in hopes of dimming Chinese influence. But a US summit this week excludes Africa's big players
The White House is hosting an 'African leaders' summit of sorts this week. But only five countries from the continent of 55 nations are welcome to join. Liberia said its president was one of five African heads of state invited by US President Donald Trump to attend a 'high-level summit' in Washington, DC, that intends 'to deepen diplomatic ties, advance shared economic goals, and enhance security cooperation' between Washington and 'select African nations.' Other invitees revealed by the Liberian presidency include the leaders of Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, and Senegal. However, none of Africa's big players, such as its largest economies South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia, were asked to attend, according to Liberia. These nations are allied to BRICS, a group of emerging economies founded by Brazil, India, and America's adversaries, Russia and China. BRICS members face the threat of being hit with new tariffs from Trump for supporting 'anti-American' policies. Broader details of Trump's African leaders' summit have not been released by the White House, but analysts say his choice of invitees remains a conundrum, describing the shift in US policy on the continent as a 'high-stakes gamble.' Christopher Afoke Isike, a professor of African politics and international relations at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, describes Trump's handpicked guests for his US summit as 'low-hanging fruit' in his quest to counter Chinese and Russian influence in Africa. 'On one hand, Trump is desperate for some deal to show to his base that he is getting results for America. But some of these also align with his focus on countering Chinese influence in Africa and malign Russian activity which undermines US interests on the continent,' he told CNN. 'Most of the regional powers in Africa are either in BRICS as key members or are aspiring to join as key partners,' Isike said, adding that 'these five countries (attending the US summit) do not fall into that category and as such are a kind of low-hanging fruit.' China is Africa's largest bilateral trading partner while its ally Russia has expanded its footprint on the continent, emerging as a major supplier of military hardware. This is not the first time Trump has hosted a small group of African leaders in the US, deviating from the approach of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who hosted fuller gatherings of African heads of government while in the White House. During his first term in office — viewed by some as 'dismissive toward Africa' — Trump hosted a 'working lunch' in 2017 with nine African heads of state, whom he described as 'partners for promoting prosperity and peace on a range of economic, humanitarian, and security issues.' 'Africa has tremendous business potential,' Trump said in that meeting, which included the leaders of Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Now in his second term, Trump has kept an eye on Africa's mineral wealth, with the US keen to challenge China's access to critical minerals in the region. However, he advocates a transactional policy that swaps charity for strategic US investment. When a peace deal brokered by Trump was signed last month by Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which harbors large deposits of minerals critical to the production of electronics, Trump told reporters that the accord allows the US to get 'a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo.' While the signed peace agreement does not specifically forfeit any mineral rights to the US, the document includes a framework 'to expand foreign trade and investment derived from regional critical mineral supply chains,' specifically to 'link both countries, in partnership, as appropriate, with the US government and US investors.' In a statement July 1, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio hailed the end of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which delivered US humanitarian aid overseas, saying that 'the countries that benefit the most from our generosity usually fail to reciprocate' and that future US aid and investment 'must be in furtherance of an America First foreign policy.' The Trump administration had previously canceled more than 80% of programs at USAID and has imposed 'reciprocal' tariffs on several countries, including many in Africa which Trump said had trade deficits with the US. South Africa has described the 'reciprocal' tariff which is due to take effect on August 1 as not based on 'an accurate representation of available trade data.' Trump has also banned travel for 12 mostly African and Middle Eastern nations – citing security risks – amid an aggressive clampdown on immigration by his administration. A mooted expansion of the travel restrictions would halt travel to the US for swathes of West Africa, if implemented. China, meanwhile, is softening the impact of US tariffs on Africa, announcing last month it would halt charges on imports for nearly all its African partners, except Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) which is friendly toward Taiwan — which China's ruling Communist Party claims as its own, despite never having controlled it. Although small economies, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Liberia are rich in mineral resources including oil and gas, gold, iron ore, and rare earth elements. The West and Central African nations are also a common departure point for would-be migrants to the US. Discussions at the Trump-hosted summit will extend beyond commerce, according to Ousmane Sene, who heads the Senegal-based research organization, the West African Research Center (WARC). 'There may be other stakes: migratory trends from West Africa to Nicaragua and then the US,' as well as 'security, as all of those (five) countries have an opening on the Atlantic Ocean,' Sene told CNN. Last year, the New York Times reported, citing government data, that the US was seeing an increasing number of African migrants at its southern border — rising from just over 13,000 in 2022 to 58,462 in 2023. Nationals from Mauritania and Senegal were top of the list, the report said. For Dakar-based journalist and political analyst Mamadou Thior, who covered the first US–Africa Leaders' Summit hosted by Obama in 2014, the leaders of the five African nations must 'be as clever as Donald Trump' when talks begin at the White House. 'Trump is a businessman. So only the interests of America interest him,' Thior said. 'The USAID, which was a key partner for countries like Senegal, no longer exists. It's up to them to talk to Trump, to see what new cooperation they can put forward.' In Isike's view, 'this meeting is going to inaugurate a new US diplomatic model — one that is transactionally tied to economic reform (and) trade outcomes for the US.' Nonetheless, the five African nations 'can expect to leverage private sector partnerships, investment, infrastructural development, and security cooperation with the US,' he said. These nations are not new to high-stakes relations with global powers. They have each been courted by China, which has boosted trade volumes between them and funded infrastructure in Gabon and Senegal. When Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embaló met his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing in September, the former had kind words for the host nation. 'For Africa,' Embaló said, according to a statement by Chinese foreign ministry, 'China represents the future and is a brother.' 'Guinea-Bissau is willing to be a trustworthy friend and partner of China,' he added. Last month, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko was also full of praise for China, thanking it for awarding dozens 'of preparation scholarships' to his nation's athletes and coaches ahead of next year's Summer Youth Olympics. In the same statement, Sonko expressed frustration with the US decision to deny visas to 'several members of the Senegal women's national basketball team' — a leading force in African women's basketball — forcing them to cancel a training camp they had scheduled in the US. With a wider African leaders' summit mooted by the White House for later in the year, Trump has made one thing clear, according to Isike: an urgent shift 'from traditional aid to strategic commerce-driven engagement.' However, the shift is 'a high-stakes gamble that aligns with America's goal to reset its influence in Africa through investment but also to counter China and foster economically self-reliant African partners,' Isike added. 'Enabling Africa to be self-reliant is not because he (Trump) loves Africa, but because he doesn't have patience with countries that only want handouts from the US,' Isike said, adding that 'these trade deals and the meeting (this week) aligns with the US' priority to favor countries that are able to help themselves.'
NHK
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- NHK
Young South Koreans embrace Japanese pop culture
As Japan and South Korea mark 60 years of normalized diplomatic ties, NHK World takes a look at how the cultural rapport between the two countries has grown. Kim Chan-ju tell us about young people in Seoul and why they love Japanese pop culture.
