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President Trump is wrapping up the first major overseas trip of his second term. He visited Saudi Arabia, Cutter, and the United Arab Emirates. The President has used those visits to showcase his affection for making deals. The White House claims those three Gulf nations have made more than a trillion dollars in new economic commitments to the United States.
President Trump has also surprised world leaders on the trip by deciding to lift sanctions on Syria and by having a face to face meeting with that country's interim president, someone who was previously an al Qaeda commander who had a ten million dollar bounty on his head.
As I've shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for better and more stable world.
The UAE, Cutter and Saudi Arabia have rolled out the red carpet for Trump. There have been extravagant welcome ceremonies. Bloomberg's Jermani Borsecci, was in Saudi Arabia for the first stop on the president's trip.
There is a sense of you have to greet your guests with respect, and obviously you're going to treat the individual who holds the highest office in the United States with the utmost respect, and so it was also an opportunity for them to pull out all the stops.
F fifteen fighter jets have escorted Air Force one Arabian horses trotted alongside the President's motorcade.
The Crown Prince Nbs himself personally greeted President Trump, breaking with protocol similar for the Emir of Qatar, even small touches in Katar, he had cyber trucks that was a nods at elon Musk obviously sort of circuiting his convoy as he made it into the center of town. And then these lavish banquets and ornate palaces, the gold, the marble, and all of that would have gone down very well with President Trump.
I'm David Gerret and this is the big take from Bloomberg News today on the show, President Trump's four day trip to the Middle East, the deals He's done and says he's done, and Trump's plans to reshape the region. So this is President Trump's first major trip overseas in his second term. Why did he decide to go to the golf help US understand the significance of that decision.
This was very significant for the golf countries. Countries like Qatar, the last time they received a visit from the US President was back in two thousand and three. In the case of UAE, it was two thousand and eight, and for Saudi Arabia, of course, it was twenty twenty two when Joe Biden came to visit and that was quite
a contentious meeting. In the case of President Trump, there is a lot of goodwill towards the region, and I think from his perspective, he sendsed it as an opportunity to make deals, to forge further economic ties, but also, and this is the diplomatic angle, to take advantage of the fact that Iran is on the back foot and maybe re establish a regional presence alongside US's allies in the golf and those include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Katar.
From the golf country's perspective, For the Crown Prince NBS, obviously, this is a huge rehabilitation for him. He sort of weathered the storm of Jamal Kajokshi for a while was seen as a global pereia and in the past eight years, the country has undergone both the social and economic transformation, and this was Saudi Arabia's opportunity to showcase to the world what they've been doing with this Saudi vision.
Let's start with the deals and the headline numbers. See massive So a six hundred billion dollar deal from Saudi Arabia deals with Cutter valued at more than two hundred billion dollars in talk of a broader economic package to the tune of one point two trillion dollars. How much of this is real? How much of this is sort of newly signed deals versus agreements in principle?
Six hundred billion dollars was the headline figure that the White House put out after that bilateral meeting that took place between the Crown Prince and President Trump. Later on, Crown Prince MBS in a speech said that they're working to increase that figure to one trillion dollars of actual deals, though from what we understand, the nominal amount was three hundred billion dollars, and a lot of that was announced at this Saudi US Business forum that was being held
in parallel. So many CEOs and industry leaders at City CEO Jane Fraser you had Black Rock CEO Larry Fink, you had Jensen Huang from Navidia. Those individuals all descended on Riot for that conference, and on the back of that we did get some signature deals. One of them is the largest defense deal in history per the White House, again, a one hundred and forty two billion dollar defense package in which Saudi Arabia has committed to buying arms from
the United States. Also a lot of energy at MOUs Aramco doing about eighty billion dollars worth of partnerships with
US companies. You had that big headline figure of one point two trillion dollars that was quote unquote economic agreement, but actually in terms of what is firm, we understand that number to be closer to around two hundred and forty billion dollars, of which and again another record breaking figure, because President Chump likes the record breaking numbers cuts, Our Airways has placed a firm order for up to two hundred and ten Boeing jets and that amounts to about
ninety six billion dollars in nominal value. That is the largest order that Boeing has ever received.
Well, let's talk about artificial intelligence. As you mentioned Jensen Kawanga. Nvidia was there. We saw the US relax restrictions that were put in place when President Biden was in the White House. What is that going to mean in real terms for companies like in Nvidia having those requirements relaxed and also these new deals that have been broken when it comes to AI chips.
Well analysts in this space. We spoke to Dan ives some wet Bush. He thinks this is an absolute game changer, and the fact that these US chip makers are getting access to the Middle East, to these Gulf countries that have huge AI ambitions, that have the money to spend on investing data centers, actually opens up a new market to them, and you've seen that in the price action
with some of these chip stocks this week. But I think the bigger noteworthy point to flag here is that the Trump administration is breaking with the Biden administration's diffusion rules.
And what they decided was that these rules were too bureaucratic and that there were smarter ways to control the distribution of US chips, those high tech chips, but in a way that doesn't one hinder US's competitiveness on a global scale and two send their allies into the arms of Chinese technology, and so this is why in advance of this trip there was talk about the US weltering down those rules, and that's exactly what we're seeing.
I want to ask you about the role that low oil prices are playing in motivating the kind of deals that we saw broker over the course of these last few days. So I know that Saudi Arabia has driven down oil prices to about sixty dollars a barrel, that of course stands to hurt the South the economy. Why is the crown prints of Saudi Arabia doing that? And how much pain can Saudi Arabia endure with oil prices as low as they are?
Okay, this is a really good question because when I put that question to the Saudi Finance minister, he says, the whole purpose is to diversify our economy, our singular dependence on one hydrocarbon into other parts of the economy. And if you look at the numbers today, about fifty percent of Saudi's economy is still hydrocarbon reliant.
The rest comes from.
Non the non oil sector, which tends to be a fast growing sector and which also is the reason that so many of those investment firms are finding opportunities investment opportunities in Saudi Arabia right now. That being said, Saudi Arabia is missing on the annual FDI targets that they're setting. And this is the reason why it was actually the Ministry of Investment that organized that Saudi US Business summit because they want to attract more FDI into the country.
Now when it comes to oil, yes, the fiscal break even level is somewhere closer to ninety dollars, it's not sixty and so in that situation, they are going to run budget deficits.
And there are two ways that you can do that.
You can either borrow more, which is what Saudi Arabia ha been doing, or you can spend less. And what has been happening in the past year is what they would say is a reprioritization of spending on these mega projects that you hear about, and that investment will have to go into more productive capacities.
But ultimately this.
Just means Saudi Arabia has gone from a position of being able.
To splash out cash all over the world.
To actually being a country that wants to direct investment inwards.
After the break President Trump's broader strategic goals for the region, plus what his meeting with serious interim president could mean for the US's relationship with Israel. So let's turn to cut her down. This was the president's second stop on this trip, and the White House says it's cured more than two hundred and forty three billion dollars worth of deals there Cutter Airways as it's going to buy more
than two hundred planes from Boeing. What does that agreement tell us about Cutter's priorities in the region and in the world more broadly.
Cutter's priorities are twofold.
Number one is also similar to Saudi Arabia, to project this image of a place where business can be done, of becoming another financial capital of the world. They've also been massively promoting tourism. If you look at their tourism numbers, they will tell you that the numbers are up. They got five million tourist last year. And so part of this is wanting to put Kutar on the map and for people to perceive them to be more than just
an LNG exporter, which is what they're known for. But of course there's a diplomatic prerogative there and Cutter have played a huge role in regional diplomacy when it comes to speaking with Iran and its proxies, negotiating with Hamas with the release of the hostages, and so for them it is both economic and political.
I mentioned Boeing, and let me stick with Boeing for a moment here, because there has been so much conversation in the United States about Cutter's offer of a Boeing seven forty seven for the President of the United States to use as air Force one. We've also seen headlines about the Trump famili's real estate investments in the Middle East. There are kind of swirling around this trip, a lot of questions about conflicts of interest and potential conflicts of interest.
So let me just talk about that jets or what people are calling a flying palace. So this was supposedly going to be a gift from the royal family, nothing to do with Kutar Airways. But once the story broke a lot of controversy. The Qataris are saying that it's still under review.
It's unclear.
President Chump on his part, is saying that this was a government to government agreement. If it does go ahead, and that it would be eventually given to the Ministry of Defense or the Pentagon.
But ultimately it does raise a lot.
Of questions about the legality the ethics of the US president receiving such a monument gift from a foreign government. Equally, a lot of people have been talking about the fact that Trump Organization, which he has of course stepped away from in terms of running the day to day, they've also been in the region in the last few weeks, whether it's inking crypto deals in the UAE, or setting up Trump towers in Dubai, in Jeddah along the Red Sea the coast of Saudi Arabia, or even in Doha
with plans to open up new golf courses. So there are business deals that are being struck with the Trump organization.
We've talked a lot about the deals brokeer do on this trip, the economic underpinnings of this trip. I want to ask you about the president's kind of broader strategic goals. And there was this extraordinary moment where you had the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia with President Trump and serious interim President. Help us understand the significance of that meeting taking place of a US president sitting down with somebody who was once linked to al Qaeda and was on most wanted lists here in the US.
Honestly, it was quite unbelievable.
It was really a historic moment, and probably the moment from this trip to witness those three standing side by side. It would have been inconceivable to think that that picture would have taken place six months ago, as you were
getting towards the end of the assad regime. And even the fact that Syrian president, again rehabilitated president because he was once a Shihadi fighter, was standing next to the US president alongside the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and it just tells you that the bigger picture here is what I referenced at the beginning, which is that the US administration and GCC countries Saudi Arabia sends an opportunity here to reshape the power dynamics in the Middle East.
For so long Syria was under the stronghold of Iran, Lebanon became increasingly under the stronghold of Iran via Hezbalah, and now many months later they're all on the back foot. The Assid regime is gone, has a severely diminished Hamas is severely diminished, and therefore it is an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to exert its influence in the region and for the US to ensure that its allies in the GCC are the ones who are going to have further
an increasing amount of diplomatic leverage. So that is the reason that President Trump came out with this big announcement in Saudi Arabia about the removal of possible removal of Syrian sanctions. And he also credited Coronference NBS and by the way, Turkish President Arduwan forgetting him to make that decision.
Israel opposes this, and this is kind of where I want to end our conversation. Because President Trump is in the neighborhood, he very easily could have stopped in Israel on this trip. He's not doing that. What does that say to you about his broader strategic priorities at this point that he is not making a stop to visit one of the US's most long standing allies in the region.
People are perceiving it to be a slight or a snub towards the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanna, who appears on some topics. There's a bit of daylight between the two, not least because one week before or President Trump's trip to the region, he sort of announced without anyone expecting, that there had been a truce agreed to between the US and Heaths and that the Houthies would no longer continue with their attacks on ships passing through the Red Sea.
But by the way, Israel were not consulted on that. Similarly, the release of American Israeli hostage Isn Alexander one day before he came to the region. That was also negotiated via Kutar, but again with not a lot of Israel involvement.
At the same time, the Israeli Prime Minister and his government have talked about pressing on and restarting operations in Gaza in a more intensified manner, but they have seemingly stole the decision to push further into the Gaza Strip while President Trump is in the region continuing with his tour. So one of the big questions here, and I would say just to end this, that there hasn't been a
lot of talk about the CES far in Gaza. There was one comment that Present made during his speech in Saudi Arabia, where he said Palestinians deserve a better future, but then point to the blame at their own leaders for getting them to the situation that they're in right now, but nothing beyond that. So it's still a very delicate moment when it comes to the war in Gaza, and indeed, how Israel is going to be reacting to all of the developments that came through in the last few days.
Jimani, you were covering this hour by hour, and the President did lay out in speech as a kind of grander vision for how he wants things to unfold, what he wants the Middle East to look like. Could you just synthesize that for us and maybe give us some indication of what he's thinking when it comes to Iran.
I think he said at.
One point in that speech, and by the way, I was in the room when he was speaking in Saudi Arabia.
It is quite a long speech, but one.
Point he did say, I don't like war, I don't want war, I want peace.
I want to deal with Iran.
But ultimately he wants to cut a deal with Iran, which, by the way, they'll probably end up in a city situation where the US Iran new nuclear deal will be very similar to the JCPOA deal that Obama put in place back in twenty fifteen, which President Chump famously pulled out of in his first term. Ultimately, I think he sees an economic opportunity in this region. These sovereign wealth funds are sitting on trillions of dollars worth of potential
capital to deploy. He's a deal maker, he likes doing deals, and I would say he also likes accolades, and probably at the back of his mind, because it's President Chump, he's hoping and angling for one day to get the Nobel Peace Prize.
Jamia, thank you very much, Thank you. This is the Big take from Bloomberg News. I'm David Gera. This episode was produced by Our deputy executive producer Julia Weaver, with help from Julia Press and Rachel Lewis Chrisky, who also fact checked in. This episode was edited by Patty Hirsch and Wendy Benjaminson and mixed and sound designed by Alex Sagura. Senior producer is Naomi Shaven, Our senior editor is Elizabeth Ponso. Our executive producer is Nicole Beemster Boor Sage Bauman is
Bloomberg's head of podcasts. If you liked this episode, make sure to subscribe and review The Big Take wherever you listen to podcasts. It helps people find the show. Thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow