On May 13, 2025, Professor Liu Zhongmin of the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University was interviewed by Global Times on Trump's visit to the Middle East, the full text of which is below:
Trump kicks off three-country Mideast visit, skipping Israel
US President Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, starting his four-day Middle East trip that will also see him visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as the first official state visit of his second presidency.
As President Trump received a warm welcome at the Saudi royal court on Tuesday, American and Saudi business executives gathered in a nearby conference hall beneath crystal chandeliers the size of tanks, reported New York Times. The goal of the Saudi-US Investment Forum — thrown together rapidly to coincide with Trump's visit to the kingdom — was to drum up deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars, flowing in both directions, the report said.
Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signed on Tuesday a strategic economic partnership agreement in Riyadh. The partnership includes agreements for energy, mining, and defense, per Reuters.
President Trump chose Saudi Arabia as the destination for his first major foreign trip of his second term, just as he did in 2017, once again bypassing the traditional allies who have usually hosted presidents, NBC reported.
Until Trump, Mexico and Canada had been the first or second foreign destination of nearly every US president in the post-World War II era, the report said.
Liu Zhongmin, a professor from the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that amid global uncertainties and setbacks in the US' tariff policy, Gulf states with substantial financial resources offer great opportunities for economic cooperation.
According to previous report of Wall Street Journal, US President's team has been in talks with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar on defense, AI and other deals they desire in exchange for pledges of a wave of Gulf investment in the US.
US President's Middle East trip, which did not include Israel, is the latest to sow doubt in Israel about where it stands in Washington's priorities, Reuters reported on Monday. In recent weeks, the relationship between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become strained as the two leaders are increasingly at odds over Hamas and Iran, NBC News reported.
According to NBC, where Netanyahu sees an opportunity to take out Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump sees an opportunity to remove the threat of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon by making a deal. As Israel hits Gaza with a new military offensive, Trump is pushing for a ceasefire. And after Trump halted the US military campaign against the Houthis, a shocked Netanyahu said Israel would then defend itself.
Recent discords between the US and Israel indicate growing strategic fatigue in Washington. By skipping Israel, Trump may be signaling a temporary cooling-off of relations, Liu said. However, the expert added that while Israel has complicated US relations with other Middle Eastern nations, the special alliance between the two still prevents a fundamental US policy shift.
The White House hailed the trip as a historic return to the Middle East. Zhu Yongbiao, director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at Lanzhou University, told the Global Times that the US wants to maintain hegemony over the region while reducing its own commitments, attempting to outsource the costs of its Middle East strategy to regional partners themselves.
However, this attempt is unlikely to succeed as regional countries have developed greater strategic autonomy over the years. While maintaining traditional security ties with the US, these nations are diversifying their diplomacy. Expecting them to fully comply with US demands is increasingly unrealistic, Liu said.
Source: Global Times
(The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author or the interviewee, and do not represent the position of this research institution)
