Description: US President Donald Trump is set to embark on a diplomatic tour in the Middle East, visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Unofficial sources close to the White House have stated that Trump plans to move forward with his intentions to conclude a deal with Saudi Arabia. The deal which mostly likely stems from the controversial Abraham Accords from 2020, undertakes establishing close ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia with certain concessions made from both sides. Broad strokes from the Abraham Accords indicated that Saudi Arabia would officially recognize Israel and decrease the cordial rhetoric towards newly found strategic partners in Russia and China. The US in return would support the Kingdom with larger weapons shipments and sponsorship of approval over Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to develop a civil nuclear program.
Impact: Trump has expressed his frustrations over Israel’s disproval of the ceasefire plan for Gaza while mounting offensives and weaponizing humanitarian aid causing disastrous humanitarian crisis. His trip to the Middle Eastern countries would most probably serve to secure commercial gains for the US as the oil – powered economies of the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia facilitate a larger relief in the energy sector for the US. Speculations over Trump’s diplomatic campaign in Saudi Arabia in order to pressure Israel are credible as Israel currently serves as the main obstacle to Trump’s international diplomatic ambitions to label himself as a peacemaker. Saudi Arabia could also substantially benefit from the deal with enlarged military support from the US as well as pioneering their civil nuclear program on the back of the US diplomatic campaign. The regional power dynamics could be modified with the expected US interference, as opposition from Iran, as well as risks over the existing negotiating concessions persist.