Iran War Darkens Outlook for Gulf Ambitions, Trump ‘Deals’
The implicit quid-pro-quo for showering the US with investment pledges, an economist says, was “do not set the Middle East on fire.”
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When Donald Trump returned to the White House last year, Persian Gulf nations made a big bet on improved US ties. They ramped up oil output and made broad, multitrillion-dollar pledges of American investment and purchases. They even gifted the US a highly controversial luxury jet — for Trump’s use.
Hosting the US president on his first major overseas trip last May, Gulf leaders laid out grand visions for new initiatives, such as the build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure using US-designed semiconductors. Enthusiasm in Saudi Arabia ran so high that parallels were made to the legendary 1945 meeting between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz Al Saud (as this newsletter noted at the time).