Trump to Convene Gulf Leaders for Summit During Saudi Arabia’s Visit: Axios
The US President, Donald Trump, will hold a summit with the leaders of Gulf States during his upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia, Axios reported citing a US official and two Arab officials.
Trump will visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar from May 13-16, 2025, in his second foreign trip during his second term as a president, after a brief visit to the Vatican to attend Pope Francis’ funeral.
According to Axios, Trump will arrive in Riyadh on May 13 and hold bilateral discussions with the Saudi leadership. The summit is scheduled for May 14, to which the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman, will invite the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
So far, there are no plans for inviting other Arab leaders to the summit, an Arab official told Axios. Following the summit, Trump will head to Doha, and then to Abu Dhabi on May 15.
Trump’s visit to the three Gulf nations will primarily focus on bilateral issues, such as energy cooperation, defense agreements, investments and cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI).
During Trump’s first term, Saudi Arabia was the destination of his first foreign trip in 2017. He held a summit with several leaders from Arab and Muslim countries in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia was supposed to be Trump’s first foreign destination during his second term, but the demise of Pope Francis changed the plan. In March, the US President confirmed that Riyadh would be his first foreign stop. Trump praised the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Mohammed bin Salman. “He is great,” he said, referring to the Saudi Crown Prince.
