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What does Trump want from his Middle East tour?
In the first major foreign trip of the US President’s second term, it’s not just business deals with the Gulf monarchies that are on the agenda.
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US President Donald Trump is seeking to reduce and recalibrate America’s military and political commitment to the Middle East.
PHOTO: AFP
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US President Donald Trump is not a man who does things in half measures. So, as he embarks on his tour of the Middle East this week, the President is vowing to squeeze the cash-rich monarchies of the Gulf: “They are going to be spending a lot of money on American companies for buying military equipment and a lot of other things.”
And, as one would expect from Mr Trump, no visit is complete without tossing a diplomatic hand grenade. The one publicity stunt this time is the President’s apparent intention to announce during his trip that the US will, from now on, refer to the Middle East’s main waterway as the “Arabian Gulf” or the “Gulf of Arabia”,
