Latest news with #MiddleEastTour
Washington Post
21-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump drafts America's business titans to burnish his image at home and abroad
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump isn't the only one who wrapped up a Middle East tour in recent days. A private jet carrying Nvidia's CEO trailed Air Force One across the region. Oil executives and bankers followed, too, as American executives dropped everything — canceling longstanding obligations and zooming into board meetings back home — to cozy up to Trump and bolster the image he tried to sell on his first major foreign trip.
Associated Press
21-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Trump drafts America's business titans to burnish his image at home and abroad
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump isn't the only one who wrapped up a Middle East tour in recent days. A private jet carrying Nvidia's CEO trailed Air Force One across the region. Oil executives and bankers followed, too, as American executives dropped everything — canceling longstanding obligations and zooming into board meetings back home — to cozy up to Trump and bolster the image he tried to sell on his first major foreign trip. With Trump back in the White House, a jaunt with the president or a stop in the Oval Office is now as routine for America's business leaders as a speech to an industry conference. Corporate titans are spending more time than ever working to curry favor with the administration as part of their effort to score relief from regulations — and tariffs — from the transactional president. He, in turn, is happy to use them as supporting cast members as he tries to project the economy as booming at a time when growth is slowing. But putting in time with the U.S. president has not fully insulated companies such as Apple, Amazon, Walmart and others from Trump's anger. It's a sign that the public commitments they make to create U.S. jobs may be doing more to burnish the president's image than to protect their own profitability. In private, CEOs and executives on Trump's trip marveled at how they came to be unofficial members of the president's traveling party, their private jets hopscotching across the Gulf as Trump visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. They said they had little choice but to get close to Trump, especially as he wields his tariff powers. 'I'm just thinking we have a president of the United States doing the selling,' Trump said in Abu Dhabi, standing alongside the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Tomislav Mihaljevic, and working in a dig at his presidential predecessor, Joe Biden. 'You think Biden would be doing it? I don't think so. But I think it's so important. I have to be a cheerleader for our country.' The host countries and the White House pulled together business conferences in a matter of weeks to give Trump a stage to show off his dealmaking on the trip. Business leaders signed partnership agreements and touted mutual investments almost as a performance for Trump and the region's powerful ruling elites, while using the opportunity to network and share their mutual bemusement that this was now part of their job portfolio. Trump has demonstrated that he steers business to those who ingratiate themselves to him — look no further than his promotion of Elon Musk's Tesla — and punishes those who don't, like Amazon during Trump's first term and law firms, universities and a growing list of institutions in his second. 'He wants the vanity of people coming in to kiss his ring,' said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, CEO of Yale University's Chief Executive Leadership Institute. He said the behavior by CEOs, while obsequious, often resulted in better treatment and free publicity from the government. It's not just U.S. business people paying heed. On Monday, a French executive turned up in the Oval Office with Trump. The president thanked Bernard Arnault's French luxury company LVMH for the 'Medals of Sacrifice' made by its subsidiary, Tiffany & Co., as Trump presented them to the families of three sheriff's deputies from Palm Beach County, Florida, who were killed in the line of duty. LVMH stock has fallen this year as tariffs threaten a business that sells everything from designer handbags to champagne. But Trump had only the fondest of praise as he told Arnault's son, Alexandre, who was representing the company: 'Thank you very much, Alexandre. I appreciate that you came. He came all the way from France.' It's not always clear how to best engage Trump Compared to the Biden administration, CEOs and executives at America's most powerful companies have felt obligated to stay in frequent contact with Trump's team. But the contact isn't a guarantee of meaningful influence with the president. Executives at multiple companies, insisting on anonymity to describe private interactions, said it wasn't always clear who in Trump's orbit could best relay their views on tariffs, regulations and taxes to the president. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has emerged as their preferred go-between, but that hasn't completely immunized the companies from attacks by Trump. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon had a previously scheduled call on Saturday with Bessent, only to separately become the target of Trump's ire in a social media post in which the president said America's largest retailer should 'eat' the cost of his tariffs. Trump in April called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who had attended his inaugural, after a report that the online outlet was considering displaying on product listings the impact of Trump's tariffs on prices. Amazon had explored the possibility for its Amazon Haul service, which competes against China-founded discounters Temu and Shein, but had chosen not to do so. The heads of General Motors, Ford and Stellantis met with Trump to outline how his tariffs would disrupt automaking. Trump gave them some reprieves on domestic vehicles with foreign parts not covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, but he still has a 25% tax on imported steel and aluminum. The president portrayed his tariff changes last April as a temporary bridge so that automakers would increase production domestically. 'We just wanted to help them during this little transition, short term,' Trump said at the time. 'We didn't want to penalize them. ' CEOs are still figuring out how to influence Trump Trump repeatedly praised Apple after its $500 billion commitment for investments in the United States. But the company also plans to shift more iPhone production to India in response to the China tariffs — and that has frustrated Trump. Speaking in Qatar, Trump recalled a conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I said to him: 'My friend, I treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India.'' By contrast, JP Morgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon ended up influencing Trump's tariff policies by going on TV. The banker on April 9 was interviewed on Fox Business Network's 'Mornings with Maria' as financial markets were panicking because of Trump's tariffs. Dimon said markets would improve if Trump could negotiate trade agreements. 'Take a deep breath,' Dimon said. 'Negotiate some trade deals. That's the best thing they can do.' His statements resonated with Trump, who pulled back his tariffs later that day to a baseline 10% so that negotiations could occur for 90 days. Trump later recounted, 'I watched Jamie Dimon on Maria Bartiromo's show this morning, and he was very good.'
Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Times
What's Trump really up to in the Middle East? Look to his new jet
President Trump has returned from his Middle East tour after a week glad-handing sheikhs, signing $2 trillion worth of investment deals and dancing to the YMCA in Riyadh. These festivities were accompanied by major policy shifts — from lifting all sanctions on Syria to Trump declaring in a speech that the days of 'western interventionalists flying in with lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs' are over. Yet here in Washington, all anyone can really talk about is the $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet the Qataris have offered the Americans. 'Only a FOOL would not accept this gift on behalf of our Country,' Trump declared on Truth Social as he got on with his tour. He wants it to
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Trump's TRUE thoughts on his dazzling made-for-TV Middle East swing revealed... as he touted trillions in investments and battled Qatar plane controversy
Moments after President Donald Trump was escorted to Air Force One by United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president popped his head into the press cabin. He had just walked up to the plane on a baby blue red carpet - a final pop of pomp after his showy nearly four-day sweep through the Middle East. The 78-year-old president visited a trio of countries in just three and a half days, with a schedule that stretched late into the evening with opulent state dinners every night. He had referred to the whirlwind trip as an 'endurance test' and repeated that sentiment to the press. 'You have great stamina, also. We all have stamina. You needed it. That was a test. I think they were giving us a test,' Trump said with a laugh, commending his hosts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The Middle East tour provided Trump with the kind of made-for-TV moments that the president adores. There was Trump arriving in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh with Arabian horses prancing alongside the Beast. In Qatar it was camels – which were also served to eat. And in the United Arab Emirates Trump delighted in the 'Al-Ayyala' hair flip dancers performing as he walked into yet another over-the-top palace. The trip allowed him to slip into the role he honed on The Apprentice – America's businessman. 'I'm just thinking - we have a President of the United States doing the selling. You think Biden would be doing this? I don't think so,' Trump cheekily said as an aside to the press as he walked through a showcase of joint UAE and U.S. business deals Friday morning. He then touted billions in investment in healthcare, energy, aluminum, airplanes and entertainment. 'And you know, they were being wooed by others, but there's no more wooing. I think we're in pretty good shape. There's no more wooing,' Trump boasted. He didn't mention the controversy hanging over the entire visit - his decision to accept the gift of a $400 million plane from Qatar to use as a temporary Air Force One. Instead, he ranted about the backlash from Republicans and Democrats on an interview in Abu Dhabi with Fox News' Bret Baier that aired Friday night. 'When you look at a new 747, and you look at a plane that's 42 years old, not even the same plane, the other ones are bigger and sleeker and sharper. And it doesn't look right,' he told Baier. He also claimed that Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani was insulted by the backlash from his gift. 'I think he was insulted, actually. He made a gift to help somebody that has helped them,' Trump went on. The day before, he held a campaign-like rally for the troops at the Al Udeid Air Base base outside of Doha. The hangar was dressed for the occasion – with the walls covered in camouflage mesh and the presidential podium flanked with a drone and a war plane. Tanks were situated around the room, giving it a similar feeling to Trump's grand Fourth of July event that he held at the Lincoln Memorial in 2019. Sparing no expense, Lee Greenwood was flown in to sing the president's walk-on song live and comedian Theo Von thrilled the troops with a spicy opening act. But one of the most important moments of the trip was held behind closed doors. Trump announced Tuesday in Saudi Arabia that as a favor to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan he would drop the Assad-era sanctions on Syria. The next morning, he was face-to-face with the country's new leader, President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is a former al-Qaeda in Iraq fighter who was on the U.S.'s terrorist watchlist. That meeting, which was private, represented a remarkable turnaround on U.S. foreign policy, from the same party that nominated President George W. Bush. Out were the neo-conservative ideas about building democracies in the Middle East and in was giving a rebel leader with a 'strong past,' as Trump put it, a chance to put Syria back together. It also earned him a rare bit of bipartisan praise. For sanctions relief, Trump can issue waivers that will have to be renewed every 180 days – or get Congress to act. Perhaps earning him some more bipartisan goodwill, Trump suggested to the Daily Mail on board Air Force One that he asked after Austin Tice, the American journalist who was abducted in Syria in 2012, during his meeting with al-Sharaa. 'I always ask about Austin Tice,' he answered. 'Now Austin Tice hasn't been seen in many, many years, you know that. He's got a great mother who's just working so hard to find her boy. So I understand it. But Austin has not been seen in many, many years.' This trip also marked Trump's first time to a mosque as president – and he visited two in two days. It's a positive change for Trump, who as a presidential candidate in 2016 reacted to President Barack Obama's mosque visit in February 2016 by cattily saying, 'maybe he feels comfortable there.' 'We have a lot of problems in this country, Greta,' Trump told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. 'There are a lot of places he can go and he chose a mosque. I saw that just a little while ago. So that's his decision, it's fine.' Obama had been slow to visit an Islamic house of worship after detractors called him a 'Muslim' to trip up his 2008 campaign based on post-9/11 prejudice. Walking through UAE's largest mosque, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, on Thursday afternoon, Trump was awestruck. 'It's so beautiful. This is an incredible culture,' Trump said. 'I'm so very proud of my friends.' The mosque is a recent addition to the Abu Dhabi skyline, opening in 2007. The second mosque Trump toured – doing so again in sock-feet, as is appropriate – was built to spread a bigger message. As part of the Abrahamic Family House, the mosque is situated on the same property as a church and synagogue to push peace and coexistence among the three Abrahamic religions. His administration's Abraham Accords aim to achieve a similar goal in country-to-country relations. President Donald Trump participates in an arrival ceremony with Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al Thani at the Amiri Diwan, the official workplace of the emir on Wednesday Signed at the end of his first administration, with a heavy lift done by son-in-law Jared Kushner, the Abraham Accords normalized relations between Israel and the UAE and Israel and Bahrain. A handful of other countries have joined since. Trump used the trip to give Saudi Arabia a subtle push toward signing them again – after movement was derailed by the Gaza war. 'It's my fervent hope, wish and even my dream that Saudi Arabia… will soon be joining the Abraham Accords,' he said. 'But you'll do it in your own time.' At the same time, no concrete progress was made on some of the world's most glaring problems during Trump's journey. While Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander was being released by Hamas during Trump's flight over, Israel was poised to put more firepower on Gaza as Trump left the region. Trump had also – again – brought up a version of his 'Riviera of the Middle East' Gaza pitch - that Arab leaders had already wholly rejected. During a business event Thursday morning in Doha, Trump pitched that the U.S. could ' take' Gaza and it could become a 'freedom zone.' Since Washington did little to back up Trump's 'Riviera' plan after his original February 4 announcement alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Center for American Progress' senior fellow for Geopolitics and Security Studies H. A. Hellyer, told the Daily Mail that he suspected Trump didn't do too much harm. 'After the Riviera Plan declaration, there was little movement from D.C.,' Hellyer pointed out. Instead, Arab leaders got together in Cairo and hatched an alternative Gaza plan. 'Regional and international capitals aren't likely to think that this statement is going to be much different, and I suspect there will be little reaction to it, and more of a focus of trying to get D.C. to stop Israel from starving the people of Gaza,' Hellyer said. Additionally, while Trump teased diverting Air Force One to Turkey to participate in the Russia-Ukraine talks, he scrapped that idea, telling reporters at the UAE business forum that he was heading back to Washington, D.C. and would soon meet his new grandchild. On Thursday, Trump's daughter Tiffany gave birth to her first child, a son. Asked by the Daily Mail if he would dial up Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the talks going, Trump didn't give a definitive answer. 'I may, no, I may. He and I will meet and I think we'll solve it. Or maybe not, but at least we'll know. And if we don't solve it, it will be very interesting,' he said. Trump then headed to the front of the plane and showed off some incredible reach – using the flight home to call into a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders. And announce to the world that Bruce Springsteen was a 'prune' and pop star Taylor Swift – after Trump dissed her – was 'hot' no longer.
Washington Post
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Friday briefing: Trump's Middle East tour; James Comey; Supreme Court; Cassie Ventura; tornado threats; Siri settlement; and more
President Donald Trump is wrapping up his Middle East tour today. People are getting hit by surprise bills because of Trump's tariffs. The Supreme Court seemed divided over judges' orders blocking Trump policies. Cassie Ventura was cross-examined in the trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs. Severe weather is bringing days of strong tornado threats to central states.
