US president heads to UAE after Qatar visit
President Donald Trump has left for the UAE after visiting Qatar where was greeted with more pomp and ceremony on the second stop of his Middle East tour.
The White House said that Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani signed agreements that would “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion”.
United GCC-US front to solve regional issues
During the briefing earlier this morning, Trump said this is a moment of consequential danger for the region, and therefore, we have to come and act together and solve those problems.
To solve those problems, you have to have a mediator and Qatar could be best positioned today. The Qataris have been instrumental in trying to negotiate a settlement between Hamas and the Israelis, that could be ultimately conducive to the permanent ceasefire followed by another broader talk about what happens next in Gaza, and the potential to kickstart talks between the Palestinian Authority and the Israelis on the notion of a viable legitimate Palestinian state.
What’s next on Trump’s agenda
After his speech at the air base, Trump is now preparing to leave for the UAE. Qatar’s emir is meeting him before he departs.
In the UAE, Trump will tour Abu Dhabi’s famed Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque before having dinner at Qasr al-Watan, the UAE’s presidential palace, later in the evening.
Trump dances to ‘YMCA’ as he ends visit to military base
Trump has ended his visit to al-Udeid military base after delivering remarks to US troops stationed there.
He will now leave Qatar shortly and head towards the UAE which is scheduled to be his last stop of the regional tour.
Before leaving, Trump waved his fists to the beat of the song “YMCA” as he exited the stage.Trump would attend Russia-Ukraine talks ‘if appropriate’
During a morning briefing in Doha, Trump said he would consider travelling to Istanbul on Friday “if it was appropriate”, referring to Russia-Ukraine peace talks hosted in the Turkish metropolis.
“If something happened, I’d go Friday, if it was appropriate,” Trump said at a meeting with business leaders in Qatar’s capital.
“We have people right now negotiating, and I think that I just hope that Russia and Ukraine are able to do something.”
You can follow all the latest on the peace talks on our live page here.Pezeshkian says Iran will ‘not bow’ to bullying from Trump
Yesterday, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country would not “bow to any bully” in response to Trump’s criticism of Tehran during his ongoing three-day Gulf tour.
“He [Trump] thinks he can come here, chant slogans and scare us. For us, martyrdom is far sweeter than dying in bed. You came to frighten us? We will not bow to any bully,” he said on Wednesday in comments broadcast live on state TV.
Earlier on Wednesday, during the GCC summit in Riyadh, Trump said that while he wanted to make a deal with Iran, the country “must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons”.
Washington and Tehran have held four meetings that were mediated by Oman to help reach a deal over the latter’s nuclear programme.
