President Donald Trump's Middle East trip has dominated international headlines this week, with central breakthroughs in Saudi Arabia and Qatar highlighting economic potential as well as moral concerns. With Trump travelling to Doha following a big-ticket Saudi-US Investment Forum in Riyadh, his administration's growing financial ties with Gulf nations are raising eyebrows over the blurring of business and diplomacy.
In Qatar, the Trump Organization has just signed on to construct a luxury golf resort on the country's eastern coast, another step in the expanding foreign business ventures of the Trump family. Last month, the project was revealed and added to other Trump-named real estate projects in the region, including joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and Oman. The deal comes in the wake of a controversial offer by Qatar to give Trump a new plane to replace Air Force One, which was criticized as potentially involving ethical, legal, and security risks. Constitutional law scholar Jessica Levinson of Loyola Law School explained the move as "unprecedented" in that these deals blur the lines between America's foreign policy agenda and Trump's own personal wealth interests.
The Qatar visit follows a Riyadh event of historical proportions, in which Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) announced a record $600 billion Saudi investment in the US within four years. The Saudi-US Investment Forum, attended by more than 2,500 delegates, including technology giants Elon Musk and Amazon's Andy Jassy, resulted in 145 deals worth more than $300 billion. One of the highlights was a $142 billion defense agreement—the biggest ever—covering cutting-edge military hardware such as C-130 cargo planes. Trump, who referred to MBS as a "friend" and called Saudi Arabia a "modern miracle," also seized the opportunity to take shots at previous Western interference and former President Joe Biden.
The investments are across strategic sectors such as energy, technology, infrastructure, and healthcare. Saudi firm DataVolt pledged $20 billion to AI data centers and US energy infrastructure, as tech leaders Google and Oracle stand to benefit from $80 billion in joint technology investments. The deals are expected to provide employment and catalyze US innovation, driving defense contractor stocks like Lockheed Martin and technology names like Coinbase on account of heightened market liquidity inviting institutional investment.
But Trump's Middle Eastern activities are not without controversy. The deal involving the Qatar plane, combined with the business endeavors of the Trump Organization, has once again raised conflict-of-interest alarms. Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has also been connected to Qatari investments through his private equity firm, which has received funds from Qatar, Saudi Arabian, and UAE wealth funds. Kushner joined a 2021 agreement to renew diplomatic relations with Qatar, adding further depth to the tale.
Second, Trump's roll-back of sanctions against Syria, announced in his Riyadh address, has added another layer of complexity to his foreign policy agenda. While the move is consistent with his push to build stronger Gulf alliances, it has been criticized by human rights campaigners, especially for the ongoing questions over Saudi Arabia's record on civil liberties, as stated in recent State Department reports. Trump's willingness to circumvent these obstacles in pursuit of economic and strategic interests has triggered debate about the future of U.S. foreign policy in the region.
As Trump continues his tour, with a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, the world is waiting in bated breath. The $600 billion Saudi investment and the Qatari business deals are a new era of economic relations, but they raise fundamental questions of transparency and accountability. Trump's Middle East interactions are, for now, a declaration of intent—one that can reshape the global economics and security in the years to come.
