In a trip heralded by the controversy surrounding the proposed gift of a luxurious Boeing Business Jet to the U.S, the ethical implications of the president accepting such a gift, and the conflict of interest regarding the President’s personal business interests in the Gulf states, leading U.S corporations appear to be the big winners as deals that could eventually amount to trillions of dollars were consummated during the trip.
This is coming just as issues surrounding the ‘trade war’ initiated by Donald Trump are being resolved with various trading partners across the world and the U.S securing better trade terms thus indicating that the U.S is recovering from the Trump induced economic shocks which occurred as a result of the drastic policies he made at the inception of his current administration.
The trip took him to the Gulf states of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where deals amounting to trillions of dollars were consummated. In Qatar, Qatar Airways committed to buying 210 Boeing jets worth $96 billion, while Qatar will also invest $10 billion in a U.S. military facility and spend $42 billion on U.S.-made weapons. Qatari firm Al Rabban Capital also signed a $1 billion deal with quantum computing company Quantinuum to boost U.S. quantum research and workforce development, while the Qatar government signed a $1 billion deal to acquire drone defence tech from Raytheon RTX and a $2 billion deal to purchase drones from General Atomics.
The trip to Saudi Arabia was even more rewarding as the Gulf state committed to spending $142 billion on U.S. military equipment and services from more than a dozen defence firms. A Saudi tech firm, DataVolt, also committed $20 billion to build AI data centres and energy infrastructure in the U.S. and $80 billion in collaborative projects with companies like Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber.
American firms will also be involved in over $2 billion worth of ongoing infrastructure projects like King Salman International Airport and Qiddiya City entertainment complex, while Elon Musk’s Star link service will be engaged to power aviation and maritime connectivity in the Kingdom.
Given the plans of the Saudi government to diversify their economy away from being oil dependent and to invest heavily in other sectors, including the rapidly growing AI industry, Nvidia was contracted to supply 18,000 AI chips to Saudi Arabia’s new start-up Humain, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) will launch a $10 billion project spanning both countries to supply AI chips and software, while Amazon, Cisco, and Global AI will help build a new “AI Zone” in Saudi Arabia, featuring advanced infrastructure and networks to support AI innovation.
The trip to the UAE was also very rewarding as Etihad Airways committed $14.5 billion to purchase 28 American-made Boeing 787 and 777X aircrafts, powered by GE engines. Emirates Global Aluminium will also invest $4 billion to build a new aluminium smelter in Oklahoma. And in a major tech move, the U.S. and UAE will build the world’s largest artificial intelligence data centre outside the United States, a 10-square-mile facility in Abu Dhabi developed by Emirati firm G42, with a 5-gigawatt capacity.
On the political side, President Donald Trump pledged to immediately lift the sanctions on Syria, while significant steps were made to reach a nuclear deal with Iran, which will both go a long way in easing tensions in the region and boosting economic activities. This is coming in the wake of the resumed hostilities in Gaza as a result of a breach in an earlier reached ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Even though there are concerns about Trump’s America first economic policies, including tariffs, imperilling the Gulf states’ ambitious development projects and suspicions regarding Trump’s personal business dealings in the region, given the plethora of deals that were consummated during the trip, there is no doubt the U.S president has been able to secure a lot of economic benefit for the country while strengthening ties with key partner states at a time the US’s dominant role in the global economy was being challenged.
Oshobi, a development economist, management consultant, and author, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.