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Donald Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on the first leg of a Gulf tour that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, eyeing business deals even as accords on the Middle East’s hotspots will likely be harder to reach.The trip marks the US president’s first major visit abroad of his second term, with the White House saying he looked forward to a “historic return” to the region.Eight years ago Trump also chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas trip as president — when he memorably posed with a glowing orb and participated in a sword dance.His decision to once again bypass traditional Western allies to travel to the oil-rich Gulf states underscores their increasingly crucial geopolitical role — along with his own business relations in the region.Saudi fighter jets escorted Air Force One as Trump landed in the capital Riyadh. The Saudi royal family plans a lavish welcome for the 78-year-old billionaire, who will also address an investment forum.Trump will take part in a summit of Gulf Arab leaders Tuesday before heading to Qatar.In the days before the trip, the White House has played an instrumental part in hammering out a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the release of an American hostage in Gaza and holding another round of nuclear talks with Iran.Those initiatives came after a surprise announcement by Trump last week of agreeing to a truce with the Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.- ‘Deals’ -But the focus during the tour of the Gulf will likely be locking down business agreements.”White House sources have indicated that the president will focus on ‘deals’,” wrote Daniel B. Shapiro, a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative.White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Trump will promote a vision where “extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges”.The Gulf states have positioned themselves as key diplomatic partners during Trump’s second term.Doha remains a major broker for negotiations between Hamas and Israel, while Saudi Arabia has facilitated talks on the war in Ukraine.Talk of returning to the kingdom has been circulating for months, with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowing to pour $600 billion into US trade and investments.”I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around one trillion. I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them,” Trump said in response to the offer.According to a Saudi official close to the defence ministry, Riyadh will push for securing the latest US F-35 fighter jets along with state-of-the-art air defence systems worth billions of dollars.”We will condition that the deliveries take place during Trump’s term,” the source told AFP.- Temporary ‘gift’ -On the ground in Saudi Arabia, residents expressed mixed feelings about what the trip would mean.”I expect that this visit will result in political decisions that will matter to the whole region,” Khalifa Oneizi, a 47-year-old Riyadh resident, told AFP.Others were less confident.”I am not optimistic about this visit or its results,” said Hamad Shahrani, a 62-year-old Saudi national.Efforts to push Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel are not likely to feature high on the agenda this trip, with Riyadh insisting a Palestinian state must be established before a deal can be brokered.Iran, meanwhile, is likely to feature prominently during the visit, following a fourth round of talks in Oman over the weekend.Controversy is also swirling over the president’s plans to accept a luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari royal family for use as Air Force One.Late Sunday, Trump went on the offensive amid a wave of criticism, saying the plane was a temporary “gift”.He later called the deal “a very public and transparent transaction”, and on Monday said before leaving Washington for his trip: “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.”

Donald Trump will arrive in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday on the first leg of a Gulf tour that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, eyeing business deals even as accords on the Middle East’s hotspots will likely be harder to reach.The trip marks the US president’s first major visit abroad of his second term, with the White House saying he looked forward to a “historic return” to the region.Eight years ago Trump also chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas trip as president — when he memorably posed with a glowing orb and participated in a sword dance. His decision to once again bypass traditional Western allies to travel to the oil-rich Gulf states underscores their increasingly crucial geopolitical role — along with his own business relations in the region.In the days before the trip, the White House has played an instrumental part in hammering out a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the release of an American hostage in Gaza and holding another round of nuclear talks with Iran. Those initiatives came after a surprise announcement by Trump last week of agreeing to a truce with the Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen.- ‘Deals’ -But the focus during the tour of the Gulf will likely be locking down business agreements.”White House sources have indicated that the president will focus on ‘deals’,” wrote Daniel B. Shapiro, a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative.Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi are expected to roll out the red carpet with a lavish royal welcome for the 78-year-old billionaire.”The president looks forward to embarking on his historic return to the Middle East” to promote a vision where “extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges”, Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said ahead of the trip.The Gulf states have positioned themselves as key diplomatic partners during Trump’s second term. Doha remains a major broker for negotiations between Hamas and Israel, while Saudi Arabia has facilitated talks on the war in Ukraine.Talk of returning to the kingdom has been circulating for months, with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman vowing to pour $600 billion into US trade and investments.”I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around one trillion. I think they’ll do that because we’ve been very good to them,” Trump said in response to the offer.According to a Saudi official close to the defence ministry, Riyadh will push for securing the latest US F-35 fighter jets along with state-of-the-art air defence systems worth billions of dollars. “We will condition that the deliveries take place during Trump’s term,” the source told AFP.- Temporary ‘gift’ -On the ground in Saudi Arabia, residents expressed mixed feelings about what the trip would mean.”I expect that this visit will result in political decisions that will matter to the whole region,” Khalifa Oneizi, a 47-year-old Riyadh resident, told AFP. Others were less confident.”I am not optimistic about this visit or its results,” said Hamad Shahrani, a 62-year-old Saudi national.Efforts to push Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel are not likely to feature high on the agenda this trip, with Riyadh insisting a Palestinian state must be established before a deal can be brokered.Iran, meanwhile, is likely to feature prominently during the visit, following a fourth round of talks in Oman over the weekend.Controversy is also swirling over the president’s plans to accept a luxury Boeing jet from the Qatari royal family for use as Air Force One.Late Sunday, Trump went on the offensive amid a wave of criticism, saying the plane was a temporary “gift”.He later called the deal “a very public and transparent transaction”, and on Monday said before leaving Washington for his trip: “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.”

The armed wing of Palestinian militant group Hamas handed over a US-Israeli hostage held in Gaza since October 2023 on Monday, ahead of a regional visit by US President Donald Trump.”The (Ezzedine) Al-Qassam Brigades have just released the Zionist soldier and American citizen Edan Alexander, following contacts with the US administration, as part of the efforts undertaken by mediators to achieve a ceasefire,” Hamas said in a statement.Israel’s military said he was back inside Israel to be “reunited with his family”.Flag-waving crowds gathered to greet the convoy carrying Alexander, and in Tenafly, New Jersey, where he grew up, large crowds celebrated his release.Close friends and family chanted his name and applauded at the news that Alexander had been freed, footage released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum showed.The Israeli army later said he was being taken by helicopter to a hospital where he would “receive medical treatment” and “be reunited with other members of his family”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Alexander’s return, adding: “The Government of Israel is committed to the return of all hostages and missing persons — both the living and the fallen.”He credited “political pressure” from Trump and “our military pressure” for the release.The Forum in a statement urged Netanyahu to say he was “ready to negotiate a comprehensive agreement” to bring home all the hostages.Meirav Etrogbar, 52, a volunteer at the Forum, told AFP: “They should stop the war and bring all the hostages back home in a deal, not military pressure.”- ‘Intensification of fighting’ -Alexander’s release comes a day after Hamas revealed it was engaged in direct talks with Washington towards a Gaza ceasefire.”We affirm that serious and responsible negotiations yield results in the release of prisoners, while the continuation of aggression prolongs their suffering and may kill them,” a Hamas statement said.”We urge President Trump’s administration to continue its efforts to end this brutal war.” Alexander was the last living hostage in Gaza with American citizenship. His release came with Trump heading for Saudi Arabia on the first leg of a regional tour.On Monday, Netanyahu thanked Trump “for his assistance in the release”, and also said he had instructed a negotiating team to head to Qatar on Tuesday to discuss the further release of hostages.Netanyahu earlier said “Israel has not committed to a ceasefire of any kind or the release of terrorists but only to a safe corridor that will allow for the release of Edan”.Negotiations for a possible deal to secure the release of all hostages would continue “under fire, during preparations for an intensification of the fighting”, he added.Meanwhile, the UN- and NGO-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) warned Monday that Gaza was at “critical risk of famine”, with 22 percent of the population facing an imminent humanitarian “catastrophe” after more than two months of a total aid blockade by Israel.Ahead of Alexander’s release, a Hamas source said that mediators informed the group that Israel would halt military operations for the handover of the 21-year-old soldier.The pause offered a much-needed respite for residents of the war-battered territory.Somaya Abu Al-Kas, 34, who had been displaced to the southern city of Khan Yunis, said that “calm settled over Gaza, there was no shelling, and no nearby aircraft, which is very rare”.But Um Mohammed Zomlot, 50, also displaced in Khan Yunis, said: “Everyone is afraid that the shelling might resume suddenly after the prisoner is released.”Gaza’s civil defence agency earlier reported at least 10 killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a school housing displaced people.- ‘Good faith gesture’ -After Hamas announced Sunday it would release Alexander, Trump hailed the “monumental news” in a post on social media, describing it as a “good faith gesture”.”Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict,” he added.Egypt and Qatar, which along with the United States have mediated talks between Hamas and Israel, called it “an encouraging step toward a return to the negotiating table” in a joint statement.Of the 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, 57 are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.Israel ended a two-month ceasefire on March 18, ramping up its bombardment of the territory.Earlier this month, Israel’s government approved plans to expand its Gaza offensive, with officials talking of retaining a long-term presence there.Hamas’s 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Monday at least 2,749 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,862.burs-acc/srm/dcp/fec

The United States and China announced Monday an agreement to drastically reduce tit-for-tat tariffs for 90 days, an outcome President Donald Trump dubbed a “total reset” as he said talks with counterpart Xi Jinping could soon follow.After the first meetings between Washington and Beijing since Trump ratcheted up his trade war, the world’s two biggest …

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