Parades of camels and Arabian horses. A luxury plane offered as a gift. Hundreds of men dancing to drums and sabers in front of marble palaces.
Lavish scenes of wealth and adoration greeted US President Donald Trump at every stop on his four-day tour of the Gulf, which ended last Friday. His visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates seemed tailor-made for the former real estate investor turned president - a man prone to flattery, prone to transactional approaches to foreign policy and attracted to extreme wealth.
If these lavish receptions were intended to curry favor with Trump, they may have succeeded. And while the Gulf states announced trillions of dollars in potential investment in the United States during his visit, they did not leave empty-handed either.
On Thursday, the US agreed to work with the UAE to build a massive artificial intelligence campus in the Gulf country. In a surprise move on Tuesday, Trump agreed to lift sanctions on Syria at the request of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - despite advice from some of his aides who opposed reaching out to Syria, whose new president was once an al-Qaeda commander.
"Ah, what I do for the Crown Prince," the president exclaimed enthusiastically to the crowd at an investment conference in Riyadh, where he announced the lifting of sanctions on Syria.
Analysts say Trump's regional tour could serve as a model for other host countries seeking a way into the president's heart. The way Trump was welcomed throughout the week felt like a global extension of what is regularly seen in Washington, where members of his cabinet are happy to highlight Trump's acumen and vision and describe the administration's successes in superlatives.
“They played their cards very skillfully,” said Laura Blumenfield, a Middle East analyst at the Johns Hopkins University School of International Studies in Washington. “The choreography of Trump’s royal tour was impressive.”
Yet Trump left the Middle East without achieving a ceasefire or restoring humanitarian aid to Gaza. Democrats and watchdog groups have expressed concern that Trump's decisions were influenced by the lavish spectacle, and have questioned whether his diplomatic initiatives may have been used to advance family business interests in the Arabian Peninsula.
“It seems as if some of these leaders are skillfully manipulating Trump using elaborate ceremonial rituals,” said Bret Bruen, a former foreign policy adviser to Democratic President Barack Obama and president of the consulting firm Global Situation Room. “A lot of this raises the question of whether Trump is taking personal rewards or is actually advancing U.S. interests in the region,” he added.
Trump left the Middle East without achieving a ceasefire or restoring humanitarian aid to Gaza
The Trump administration has repeatedly stressed its commitment to transparency and compliance with all ethics laws to avoid conflicts of interest. “The Middle East is using all means at its disposal because America is strong again,” said White House spokesman Taylor Rogers. “Foreign leaders know that President Trump is the ultimate master negotiator, whose policy of peace through strength has restored American dominance.”
The pomp and pageantry began even before Donald Trump landed in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the first stop on his tour. As his plane approached Riyadh, Saudi F-15 fighter jets joined him in escorting him. After the president descended a lavender carpet, his motorcade was escorted to the Royal Palace along a road lined with Arabian horsemen.
Not to be outdone, Qatar provided its own fighter escort for Trump’s plane as he arrived in Doha on Wednesday. While the Saudis used horses, the Qataris also included camels in the parade, as well as Tesla Cybertrucks, which have gained popularity among some Trump supporters due to their association with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close Trump adviser. A traditional Qatari sailboat, with a sail flying the American flag, bobbed in the nearby harbor.
At Qatar's opulent royal palace, the Emir's Divan, Trump raved about the quality of the marble. His personal style leans heavily toward white stone and gold accents - elements that dominate his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and that he has introduced into the White House since taking office.
The emir had previously offered Trump a luxury Boeing 747-8 jet as a replacement for Air Force One, a gift that raised constitutional questions and ethical dilemmas, even among some Republicans. On Thursday, he paid him a series of personal compliments, albeit more diplomatic than aesthetic.
"We are very excited," the emir said. "I know you are a man of peace. I know you want to bring peace to this region."
Throughout the trip, Trump was full of compliments. “I like him a lot. I like him too much,” Trump said of Bin Salman, without mentioning the Saudi crown prince’s alleged role in ordering the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was living in the United States, in 2018. Bin Salman has denied involvement in the killing, and the administration of former President Joe Biden has determined that he has immunity from a lawsuit filed against him in the United States.
Trump later in the week called UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan a "magnificent man."
Upon arriving in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the last stop of the tour, Trump toured the imposing and opulent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque with the Emirati crown prince. Trump marveled at its beauty and what he called its “incredible culture.”
At the royal palace of Qasr al-Watan that evening, Sheikh Mohammed presented him with the final gift of the visit: the Order of Zayed. A baroque necklace made of pure gold, the country's highest civilian decoration.
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