Trump deals with the Middle East - Illustration by Luc Nadeau

Aside from President Trump’s whirlwind trip to Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican in late April, the first diplomatic foray of his second term was a four-day visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in mid-May.

In an interview with the BBC in early May, economist Karen Young stated that Trump wanted an “announcement of more Gulf money for the US ... and some estimation of what [it would] do to the American economy in terms of job creation or his big push, of course, on domestic manufacturing."

Clearly aware of Trump’s sense of self-importance, his royal hosts gave him royal welcomes. A second BBC article on May 20 reported that “Escorts of fighter jets, extravagant welcoming ceremonies, a thunderi

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