President Donald Trump has made his first major trip overseas during his second term, visiting the same place as his first—the Middle East. On his trip, Trump is visiting Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and is also scheduled to meet with Syria’s new president. This trip holds exchanges and personal significance between the United States and the Gulf countries, as well as Trump’s family business deals with Gulf Arab rulers.
So far, Qatar has offered the President a gesture of $400 million in a luxury plane that Trump claims he is smart to accept from Qatar. It is speculated that his decision to head to Saudi Arabia as his first destination was geared towards the fact that the country was ready to make big investments in U.S. companies.
“Trump’s visit focused too much on making big business and weapons deals with authoritarian governments instead of promoting human rights or peace,” senior Brie Bruetsch said. “I feel like he ignored serious issues like freedom of speech and repression. Some also see the trip as a PR move to boost his image before the election. His trip overall seemed more like a boost of ego than anything productive.”
Many are left questioning whether this visit was truly about diplomacy or simply about deals and photo ops.
