A MART脥NEZ, HOST:
President Trump is returning from the Gulf with pledges for new investments in arms sales. The trip comes as Iran signals it may be ready to revive a nuclear deal if the U.S. lifts sanctions. Doug Silliman joins us now. He's president of the Arab Gulf States Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit think tank. He's also former U.S. ambassador to Kuwait and Iraq.
So Doug, President Trump came back with deals. What do you think the real purpose of the trip was, and was it a success?
DOUG SILLIMAN: I think the real purpose of the trip was to show Americans that President Trump is able to deliver economically, particularly in light of all of the uncertainty that his tariff policy and other trade policies have created. And he tried to do this in the Gulf by getting large pledges for investment from the Gulf in the United States. He has a lot of pledges and MOUs and contracts for commercial sales, both of advanced chips, Boeing aircraft and even some defense deals. And maybe the third thing that he tried to do on his trip is to make sure that Saudi Arabia, in particular, and the OPEC+ group would keep oil production at a high enough level to keep oil prices down so that prices at the pump for Americans will stay relatively low.
I think he's really trying to shift the focus of American traditional dealings with the Gulf - the Carter doctrine of 45 years ago, which was essentially oil for security - to new, longer-term and deeper economic partnerships. And I think he has had a pretty good success on this one because the Gulf states also want to have this kind of relationship with the United States.
MART脥NEZ: So it sounds like this was a business trip that was 100% about business deals.
SILLIMAN: I think it was not 100% about business deals, but certainly the public face of this, both from the Gulf side and from the president's side, was to emphasize what the United States and the Gulf can do economically together. It is pretty clear to me that there has been some discussion of other issues. But again, President Trump and the Gulf don't like to talk about the difficult political issues. As he came on the trip, there was still some talk about the possibility of Saudi recognition of the state of Israel...
MART脥NEZ: Yeah.
SILLIMAN: ...Probably in exchange for an Israeli concession that would present a pathway for Palestinian statehood. That didn't happen. It was clear, especially from his statements today in Abu Dhabi about something has to be done about the starvation in Gaza, that in private meetings, the Gulf leaders did talk about their concerns about Israeli conduct in Gaza and the conditions of the Palestinian civilian population. And frankly, I think there must have been some discussion about the ongoing American negotiations with Iran to get to a new nuclear deal because all of the countries in the Gulf, with the exception of one - Bahrain - have reestablished diplomatic relations with Iran. And they want to reduce tensions in the region so they can concentrate on their own economic development and restructuring.
MART脥NEZ: Was there anything, Doug, that you noticed that may have been different about this particular visit and what Arab leaders want from their relationship with President Trump in this second term? 'Cause he's been there before. He went there in his first term.
SILLIMAN: No, both the president and the Gulf are very different places and people than they were eight years ago. Eight years ago when President Trump went, the Gulf was still reeling from the Obama administration's signing of the JCPOA - the Iran nuclear deal - without much consultation with the Gulf. This time around, it is clear that the administration is consulting with the Gulf on what they're doing with the Iranians.
The Gulf also this time is not in as confrontational a mood with Iran. As I said, they all have major development projects that require a lot of investment domestically and regional stability to exercise. And I think that the Gulf states really want to see the United States and Iran cut a deal that will reduce the tension in the region. And I think that is one of the biggest differences on the Gulf side.
I think on the American side, President Trump is under far fewer domestic constraints this time than he was eight years ago. And as you noted, you can see a significant mixing of both public and private business on his trip, with Trump family businesses talking about Trump towers...
MART脥NEZ: Yeah.
SILLIMAN: ...Talking about building a golf resort in Qatar and the, you know, controversial issue of whether or not the president should accept a Qatari plane to use as a new Air Force One.
MART脥NEZ: There's about 30 seconds left, Doug. If President Trump actually strikes a nuclear deal with Iran, will that deal for sure have the fingerprints of other nations in the Gulf? Is that what you're saying - like, there's no way that deal doesn't have involvement from other nations?
SILLIMAN: I think that if President Trump strikes a deal with Iran, it's really going to be President Trump's deal. But it is clear that he will be in communication with the Gulf leaders - with whom you saw this week he is very comfortable - to make sure they are comfortable with the result.
MART脥NEZ: All right. Doug Silliman is president of the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Doug, thanks.
SILLIMAN: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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