White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt announced on Tuesday (April 4) that US President Donald Trump will visit three Middle Eastern countries in mid-May to further strengthen strategic and economic ties with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Lewitt said that Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE from May 5 to 13 respectively. The specific details of the itinerary have not yet been made public, but the White House has revealed that it will cover important topics such as "trade, regional security and the Iranian issue."
Trump is scheduled to go to the Vatican on the 26th of this month to attend the funeral of Pope Francis, so the Middle East trip will become his second overseas visit since returning to the White House.
Trump chose Saudi Arabia as the destination for his first overseas visit when he first took office as president in 2017. This trip to the Middle East once again started in Saudi Arabia, which was interpreted by the outside world as a continuation of his consistent Middle East diplomatic route.
When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with senior Trump administration officials earlier this year, he pledged to inject up to $6000 billion into U.S. trade and investment in the future. On the other hand, the United States has continued to negotiate a nuclear agreement with Iran recently.
Trump also said on the 22nd that he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the two sides reached a consensus on the Iran issue and US-Israel economic and trade cooperation.
