On his first international tour since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump is visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates with a clear agenda: make deals. More than a trillion dollars in signed agreements, cross-investment pledges, arms and advanced tech contracts, and the reactivation of personal alliances with Gulf leaders defined a trip that has stirred both economic enthusiasm and strategic unease.

While the White House portrayed the tour as a show of U.S. global leadership, voices inside and outside the government are warning that this expansion could result in a loss of control over critical sectors like artificial intelligence (AI) and aviation, while raising serious concerns over potential presidential conflicts of interest.

Before the trip began, The New York Times reported that Trump aimed to close more than \$1 trillion in contracts, including planes, nuclear technology, AI, and cryptocurrencies. Unlike past visits by U.S. presidents—like Carter’s push for peace between Egypt and Israel, or Obama’s 2009 address to the Muslim world—Trump’s goal was purely transactional.

The tour was designed as a business showcase: Boeing jets, data centers, arms deals, energy partnerships. As former Middle East negotiator Dennis Ross told the Times, “Going to the Middle East right now is more about economics, not strategy.”

And so it was.

New AI Hub

One of the most striking announcements was the launch of the UAE-US AI Campus, a 5-gigawatt facility in Abu Dhabi that will become the largest AI data center outside the United States. The initiative will be led by Emirati firm G42 in partnership with major American tech companies.

The facility will host cloud services from U.S. hyperscalers to serve nearly half of the global population from the Gulf, powered by nuclear, solar, and gas energy. Trump and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed announced the project jointly, alongside a UAE pledge to invest $1.4 trillion in the U.S. over the next decade.

The New York Times reported that the project includes the annual shipment of hundreds of thousands of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips, with at least 100,000 going directly to G42—an Emirati firm chaired by the country’s national security advisor. Several U.S. officials told the Times they were concerned the deals lacked adequate safeguards to prevent the technology from reaching China or other adversaries.

The “America First” Paradox

Trump’s tour wasn’t limited to AI. In Qatar, he participated in the signing of a record-breaking order of 160 Boeing aircraft by Qatar Airways, valued at $96 billion and including GE Aerospace engines. It was described by Boeing as the largest widebody order in the company’s history.

In Saudi Arabia, Trump closed a $600 billion investment agreement, which included a $142 billion arms sale—the largest ever, according to the White House. Additionally, Saudi company DataVolt announced a $20 billion investment in AI infrastructure inside the U.S.

Yet these achievements expose a strategic contradiction. The same president who champions “America First” industrial policies is now promoting a globalized tech expansion that moves critical infrastructure offshore.

The New York Times recalled that during Biden’s presidency, a similar AI proposal from the UAE was rejected due to concerns it would offshore jobs and erode U.S. technological sovereignty. Trump, however, not only approved a nearly identical plan but also rolled back export restrictions on AI chips—restrictions initially intended to block China’s access to U.S. technology.

Blurred Lines Between Power and Profit

The tour was also marked by signals of favoritism and potential ethical breaches. Qatar reportedly offered Trump a \$400 million Boeing 747-8 luxury aircraft, intended for presidential use and then private use after leaving office. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called it “not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat.”

The New York Times documented that, following the January 6 Capitol riot and widespread corporate backlash in the U.S., the Trump family turned to the Gulf to rebuild its business. Jared Kushner received a \$2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund for his private equity firm, while Trump struck real estate deals in Dubai, Muscat, and Jeddah—and his golf courses became regular venues for the Saudi-backed LIV Golf tournament.

Strategic Win or Structural Risk?

To supporters, Trump is leveraging personal ties and business acumen to expand America’s technological reach. To critics, he is handing over the foundations of the next industrial revolution—like AI training facilities—to authoritarian governments with diverging values.

One thing is clear: the new U.S. foreign policy on advanced technology is being written not in the halls of the State Department but in private jets, Gulf palaces, and corporate boardrooms. As the world races to dominate AI, the central question is no longer just whether the U.S. will lead—but where, and under what terms, that leadership will be exercised.

With information from AFP