- President Trump was greeted with more pomp and ceremony as he arrived in Qatar on the second stop of his Middle East tour after departing Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
- The White House said that Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed agreements that would “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion”.
- The agreements are said to include a $96bn deal with Qatar Airways to buy up to 210 Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aeroplanes, and a statement of intent for $38bn in investments at Qatar’s Al Udeid Airbase and other air defence capabilities.
- A meeting is scheduled for later today of US, Turkish and Syrian officials to discuss details of Trump’s announced dropping of sanctions against Syria.
- Trump’s three-country tour of the Gulf state region will conclude in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Donald Trump’s Israel snub marks end of an era
President Trump isn’t visiting Israel during his Middle East tour because he knows Netanyahu is bluffing and has nothing to offer him, says Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar.
Eldar believes Trump’s snub marks the end of an era in US-Israel relations.
Qatar Airways hails ‘historic’ Boeing deal
Qatar Airways has hailed its agreement with Boeing to acquire up to 210 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft at a cost of $96bn as “historic”.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer Badr Mohammed al-Meer said the deal was a “critical next step” for the airline as it invests in the “cleanest, youngest and most efficient fleet in global aviation”.
“After two consecutive years of record-breaking commercial performance and with this historic Boeing aircraft order – we’re not simply chasing scale; we’re building strength that will allow us to continue to deliver our unmatched products and customer experiences,” he said in a statement posted on the airline’s website.
Trump says he doesn’t want Iran nuclear talks to take ‘violent course’
Speaking at a state dinner in the Qatari capital Doha on Wednesday, Trump pushed for Iran to accept a deal curbing its nuclear programme, saying he doesn’t want talks to take a “violent course”.
“Two courses, there’s only two courses. There aren’t three or four or five, there’s two. There’s a friendly and a non-friendly, and non-friendly is a violent course, and I don’t want that. I’ll say it up front. I don’t want that, but they have to get moving,” Trump said.
The US and Iran have been engaged in nuclear talks mediated by Oman for several weeks and concluded a fourth round of discussions on Sunday in Muscat.
More Republicans raise concerns about Qatar jet plan
More Republicans are adding their voices to the chorus of concern about Trump’s plans to accept a Boeing 747 from Qatar to temporarily use as Air Force One.
“I think there are national security concerns, I think there are financial concerns about breaking this thing down to the studs and building it back up, and then it’s not hard to imagine why some people have some ethical concerns as well,” Dustin Johnson, a Republican who represents South Dakota in the US House of Representatives, said in an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press on Wednesday.
Johnson’s comments follow similar expressions of concern by a number of top Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Trump’s visit to Qatar strengthens ties with multibillion-dollar deals
On the second day of his Middle East tour, Trump visited Qatar, where he signed a series of multibillion-dollar deals with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Trump’s lifting of Syria sanctions surprised his own officials: Report
We have been reporting on President Trump’s surprise announcement on Wednesday that Washington would be lifting all US sanctions imposed on Syria.
Senior State Department and Treasury Department officials are now reportedly scrambling to understand how to cancel the sanctions, many of which have been in place for decades, the Reuters news agency reports, citing four unnamed US officials.
The White House issued no memorandum or directive to sanctions officials warning them to prepare for the move, according to one of the senior officials. They were also confused about how exactly the administration would unwind layers of sanctions, which ones were being eased, and when the White House wanted to begin the process.
“Everyone is trying to figure out how to implement it,” one US official said.
In Syria’s case, layers of decades-old measures cutting the country off from the international banking system make the task of lifting sanctions particularly challenging.
Syrian leader lauds Trump’s lifting of US sanctions in television address
Speaking in a television address on Wednesday evening, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa welcomed US President Donald Trump’s “courageous” lifting of sanctions on his country.
Al-Sharaa said Trump’s decision to drop sanctions against Syria “was a historic and courageous decision, which alleviates the suffering of the people, contributes to their rebirth and lays the foundations for stability in the region”.
Trump met al-Sharaa in the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier on Wednesday, becoming the first US president to meet a Syrian leader in a quarter of a century.
The Syrian president also thanked Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who organised the meeting, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – a key supporter of the new Damascus government – for his role in the meeting with Trump.
“Syrians, the road before us is still long. Today, we begin the real work, with which modern Syria will be reborn,” Sharaa added.
Tehran official says Iran willing to deal with US on nuclear programme: Report
An Iranian official has told the US broadcaster NBC News that Iran is willing to agree to a deal with the US in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The news comes as US President Donald Trump said in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that he wanted to do a deal with Iran.
Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told NBC that, in exchange for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions, Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, and getting rid of its stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium.
He said Tehran could agree to only enrich uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and it would allow international inspectors to supervise if an agreement was reached, NBC reported on Wednesday night.
“It’s still possible. If the Americans act as they say, for sure we can have better relations,” Shamkhani told NBC, adding that “it can lead to a better situation in the near future”.
Trump lifts sanctions after rare meeting with Syrian president
In a surprise diplomatic move, President Trump met Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday, in what was the first meeting between US and Syrian leaders in almost 25 years.
A day earlier, Trump stunned the international community by announcing the lifting of US sanctions on Syria, prompting celebrations across the country.
US senator says Trump accepting plane would be like ‘moving into the Qatari embassy’
We have been reporting on President Trump’s plan to accept a private jet from Qatar for temporary use as Air Force One.
The proposal has caused concern among Democrats and Republicans alike, including Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Republican Wicker said the aircraft would have to be checked for surveillance equipment and receive security upgrades, in what experts have said would be a lengthy process costing hundreds of millions of dollars.
“It would be like the United States moving into the Qatari embassy,” Wicker told US news outlet Politico.
“I’m not sure how quickly the Qatari aircraft can be retooled,” he added.
‘Another burst of business deals’ as Trump visits Qatar
It was another burst of business deals for US President Donald Trump on the second leg of this tour of the Middle East. This time in the State of Qatar.
After a meeting with the emir of Qatar, the two emerged to announce they had made a landmark deal. The partnership between the two to the tune of $1.2 trillion in business they hope to generate.
There was also the announcement that the State of Qatar and Qatar Airways would be purchasing between 160 to 210 Boeing aircraft, and that they would be produced over the next seven years.
Additionally, another US company, General Electric, or GE, will be producing engines for those aircraft.
Peace talks, Boeing jets headline Trump state visit to Qatar
Qatari military jets escorted US President Donald Trump’s plane as he arrived in Doha on Wednesday, the second stop on his three-country tour of the Middle East.
Qatar hosts the largest US airbase in the region, and the country has become a key mediator in conflicts around the world. That mediation role appears to have been a major focus of talks between the US president and Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
Putin, Trump are set to skip Ukraine peace talks in Istanbul
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday proposed talks with Ukraine, which are set to take place in the Turkish capital on Thursday, “without any preconditions”.
But the Reuters news agency now reports that he and President Trump are set to skip the meeting, which will be the first direct peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv in three years.
Late on Wednesday, the Kremlin announced its delegation would instead include a group of experienced technocrats, including presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky and Deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin.
Trump, who is currently touring the Middle East, had been considering making the trip to Istanbul. But after the Kremlin’s announcement, a White House official said the US president would not attend, according to Reuters.
A Ukrainian official said Volodymyr Zelenskyy was on his way to Turkiye. Earlier, Zelenskyy had said he would only take part if Putin was there.
The absence of the Russian and US leaders has lowered expectations around a major breakthrough taking place to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, which it launched in February 2022.
A recap of recent developments
- US President Donald Trump sat down with Syrian President al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, in the first meeting between leaders from both countries in nearly a quarter century.
- Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman joined al-Sharaa and Trump for the highly anticipated talks, while Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joined by phone.
- In the lead-up to Wednesday’s meeting, Trump announced he would lift sanctions against Syria, a development that al-Sharaa’s government praised as an economic boon and a step towards stability.
- Trump landed in Qatar later on Wednesday, marking the first time a US president has made an official state visit to the Gulf country.
- Following the meeting, the White House announced the US and Qatar had inked deals that would generate an economic exchange worth $1.2 trillion, including one transaction which would see Qatar Airways buy 210 aircraft from the US firm Boeing.
- The US president is set to travel on to the UAE on Thursday, the last country on his Gulf state tour, before returning to the US on Friday.
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You can read about the key events from Wednesday, May 14, here.
