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With Donald Trump’s headline-making tour of the Gulf region now over, focus has now fallen on the deals made during the trip – for US companies, and for the president himself.
Former White House lawyers, diplomatic protocol officers and foreign affairs experts have told the Guardian Donald Trump’s receipt of overseas gifts and targeted investments are “unprecedented” as the White House remakes US foreign policy under a pay-for-access code that eclipses past administrations.
Meanwhile, the agreement struck by major US companies saw prominent executives negotiate their deals face-to-face with Gulf country leaders. Many of those agreements broke with the policies of Joe Biden’s administration, which imposed strict controls on the sales of the US’s most cutting-edge technology.
‘Very disturbing’: Trump receipt of overseas gifts unprecedented, experts warn
The openness to foreign largesse was on full display this week as the US president was feted in the Gulf states during his first major diplomatic trip abroad this term, inking deals he claimed are worth trillions of dollars for the US economy.
But quite often, the bottom line also has benefited Trump personally. His family’s wealth has ballooned by more than $3bn, according to press estimates, and the reported benefits from cryptocurrencies and other investment deals such as plans for new Trump-branded properties may be far larger. Deals for billions more have been inked by business associates close to Trump, meaning that their political support for the White House can translate into lucrative contracts abroad.
Some argue the message being sent by the White House is that American foreign policy is being sold to the highest bidder.
How Donald Trump’s ‘historic’ Gulf state deals benefit a handful of powerful men
Styling himself the broker-in-chief, Trump brought along an entourage of dozens of CEOs to the Middle East, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Andy Jassy, Palantir’s Alex Karp and two dozen others.
The deals stand to enrich the tech CEOs substantially by opening up new audiences for their products. These are the same men at the helm of AI development, and Trump’s use of them as surrogates seems likely to propagate the American model of technological power in new places.
Trump to talk to Putin on Monday about Ukraine ceasefire proposal and trade
Donald Trump said that he will speak to both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an effort to stop what he called the “bloodbath” war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to a state-run Russian news agency that preparations were under way for a call.
Trump’s call with Putin will be followed by a separate conversation with Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, and Nato leaders as part of the US effort to end the war that has raged since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
US House Republicans propose fees on immigrants to fund Trump’s crackdown
Congressional Republicans are proposing an array of new fees on immigrants seeking to remain in the United States in a move advocates warn will create insurmountable financial barriers.
Legislation moving through the GOP-controlled House of Representatives could require immigrants to pay potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars to seek asylum, care for a minor in the government’s custody, or apply for humanitarian parole.
Republican lawmakers have described the fees as necessary to offset the costs of Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Catching up? Here’s what happened 16 May 2025.
