THREE days, three countries, hundreds of billions of dollars in investment and a geopolitical shift in the United States’ approach to the region — Donald Trump’s trip to the Middle East has been eventful.
The energy-rich Gulf Arab nations — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are racing to turn their influence over Trump into tangible gains.
They have established personal ties with him and collectively pledged trillions in US investments, while positioning themselves as key intermediaries in the conflicts Trump aims to resolve — from Gaza to Ukraine and Iran.
These three wealthy Gulf countries have been rewarded with the privilege of hosting Trump’s first state visit of his second term.
Saudi Arabia’s GDP $1.08 trillion, UAE’s GDP $0.527 trillion and Qatar’s GDP $0.216 trillion make $1.823 trillion Gulf total GDP.
In Trump’s maiden visit his “take” from Gulf dealings remained $4 trillion.
Simply Trump took away everything he wanted to.
Trump’s financial gains largely from arms sales, energy contracts, investments amounted to more than twice the entire GDP of these three major Gulf states combined.
If we compare Trump’s Gulf loot to Israeli war cost we come to know that estimated Israeli military expenditure in Gaza so far is $55 billion which is equal to 10% of Israel’s entire annual GDP.
And it represents only 1.3% of the $4 trillion that flowed to the US under Trump from Gulf partners – Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
Through Trump’s deals, Gulf States poured vast sums into the US economy — fuelling weapons manufacturers and defence contractors — while the economic cost of the Israeli military operation remains financially negligible in comparison to those profits.
Gulf wealth, which represents the resources of the wider Muslim Ummah, is effectively bankrolling US military-industrial interests and, by extension, Israeli military operations.
The cost to Israel of devastating Gaza is merely a minor line item in the broader ledger of American arms profits.
The billions lost by the Israeli economy due to Zionist misdemeanours — once believed to hasten the collapse of Israeli tyranny — are rendered minuscule when compared to the trillions earned by Trump and, by extension, US arms manufacturers from Gulf States.
When Gulf countries enter into these arms purchase deals, these dollars arguably do not go to Israel directly—they go to US defence contractors Lockheed, Raytheon, Boeing, etc.
However, how Israel benefits is through these firms lobbying the United States of America to keep defence budgets high and to stock allies like Israel with the latest weaponry—often at below full cost.
US tax revenues and corporate profits swell with each Gulf arms sale, hence ensuring Congress feels less political pain when voting on new or extra military aid to Israel.
The infusion of Gulf capital into America’s defence sector effectively underwrites Israel’s military operations, because a well funded Pentagon is in a stronger position to gift or discount weapons to its closest ally.
Thus, the announced $4 trillion in Gulf to US deals from the Trump visit has more than covered Israel’s direct Gaza war costs.
Not by reimbursing Israel directly, but by fattening the US military industrial machine and US defence budgets, which in turn supply Israel with arms and aid far beyond that $55 billion expenditure.
As Trump marvelled at the luxurious buildings in the Gulf, Israel intensified its bombardment to destroy what’s left of the Palestinian territory.
Unfortunately, Israeli attacks on Palestine are not stopped despite continuing talks in Doha.
Israel appears to be pushing forward with its plan to expand its assault on Gaza as it continues to block aid for nearly two million people in the Gaza enclave, leading to fears of famine and countless deaths.
Ironically, Trump made no strong push to end the ruthless attacks of Israel on Palestine during his trip to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
In a move that surprised many observers, Trump announced from Riyadh that he will offer sanction relief to Syria, as the country emerges from a decade-plus civil war.
Trump also met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and described him as a “young, attractive guy”.
A wholesale lifting of sanctions was not expected, in part because of Israel’s hostility to the new authorities in Syria.
Israeli officials often describe Al-Sharaa, who led al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria before severing ties with the group, as a “terrorist”.
Trump made the decision to lift the economic penalties against Syria at the request of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
If American President Donald Trump can stop Indo-Pak war 2025 from further escalation and destruction and rescue Indian Prime Minister Modi he can force Israeli butcher Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop brutality in Palestine also but he himself doesn’t want to stop genocide in Palestine.
Along with Israel, America is equally responsible for ethnic cleansing in Palestine.
Muslim countries especially the wealthy Arabs if willing can influence American President Donald Trump for end of Israeli barbaric bombing on Palestine and rescue helpless innocent starved Palestinians.
—The writer is author of several books based in UK. (naveedamankhan@hotmail.com)
