Following United States President Donald Trump’s Saudi Arabia and Syria visits, which have seen a strategic approach to strengthening economic and diplomatic ties in the Middle East, the US President has secured a landmark aviation deal during his next stop in Qatar. Also on Wednesday, the US State Department approved a $300 million missile sale to NATO ally Turkey, significantly boosting the country’s air defence.
The president’s May 2025 Middle East visit has so far resulted in the largest US defence deal to date, securing a $142 million arms sale to Saudi, combined with a major US investment pledge from the Crown Prince. Meeting with Al-Sharaa, the Syrian interim president, Trump lifted US economic sanctions on the war-torn country, promising foreign investment, economic recovery, and humanitarian aid to millions of displaced persons.
Critically, he urged Damascus to take control of Kurdish-led security camps housing ISIS affiliates, potentially diminishing the autonomous region’s hopes of decentralisation post-Assad. Both Saudi and Syria were also pressured to join the Abraham Accords and normalise relations with Israel.
The Qatar visit has also seen key developments in bilateral relations, with Trump announcing a $96 billion sale of up to 210 American Boeing aircraft to Qatar Airways, the largest order of widebody planes in the company’s history. Over $10 billion of defence contracts were signed, including for UAVs and surveillance, part of $243 billion worth of economic agreements. This came after the US president accepted a controversial luxury aircraft gifted by Doha.
Simultaneously, the new arms deal with Turkey of two missile systems, though not yet passed in congress, provides a major boost to Turkey’s air capacity. The trade is touted to bolster interoperability between the two strongest NATO forces but comes following tensions over the Turkish bid for acquisition of F-16 fighter jets during its veto of Sweden’s membership to the transatlantic alliance. The trade was secured when Turkey ratified the Scandinavian accession, yet security concerns remain over Turkey’s cooperation with Russia and the Turkish state’s dire human rights record.
In other US relations with Middle Eastern powers, US-Iran nuclear negotiations are on-going, with Trump on Thursday saying they were “very close” to securing a deal, which could pave the way for an easing of sanctions on the Islamic Republic. Nevertheless, Trumps remarks came with a nuanced threat of violence should Tehran not cooperate.
