President Donald Trump arrived in Qatar on Wednesday — the second day of his Middle East trip — as fallout continues over the president’s insistence on accepting a luxury plane from the country.
His Qatar visit follows his meeting with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia. Trump took with meeting with al-Sharaa just after he announced the cessation of sanctions on the country.
Also on Wednesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is set to testify before Congress where he is expected to answer questions about massive cuts to the department.
Trump participates in signing ceremony for Boeing sale of planes to Qatar
Upon touching down in Qatar, Trump participated in a signing ceremony with the emir of Qatar, where their friendship was on full display as they signed several agreements.
The first agreement was an “agreement of buying an aircraft from Boeing,” which was signed by Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg for the United States. There were no additional details disclosed, but Trump later touted it as Qatar’s largest order in Boeing jet history and congratulated Kelly.
Next, each country’s defense secretary signed a number of agreements between Qatar and the United States, one of which was a deal for Qatar to purchase new MQ-9B drones. The U.S. gave initial approval for that purchase in March.
Lastly, the president and emir signed a joint declaration of cooperation between Qatar and the U.S.
When asked whether he’d consulted Israel before lifting the sanctions on Syria, Trump said his administration told Israel they would do it. The president also said he rolled back the sanctions at the urging of Turkey and Saudi Arabia
During a gaggle on Air Force One while traveling from Saudi Arabia to Qatar, Trump said that Russia President Putin wanted Trump to attend the talks in Turkey, though Trump remained noncommittal on attending, citing his schedule and foreign trip obligations.
“He would like me to be there, and that’s a possibility. If we could end the war, I’d be thinking about that,” Trump said.
“Well I don’t know if he’s showing up,” Trump said when asked what would happen if Putin doesn’t attend those talks.
Trump declined to comment on what he thought of Putin’s handling of the negotiations with Ukraine, saying that he could respond to that question in a few days.
Shortly after arriving in Doha and being welcomed by Qatari Emir Diwan, Trump said there would be “pretty good news” coming out of the Russia-Ukraine talks “today and maybe tomorrow and maybe Friday.”
– ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart and Justin Gomez
“Donald Trump is using the presidency to personally enrich himself while he bankrupts working families. His corruption is a slap in the face to the millions of Americans who are struggling to get by and put food on the table,” DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.
“Today, the DNC is highlighting what foreign autocracies around the world already know: Trump has no loyalty to the American people, national security, or the Constitution — his only allegiance is to his bank account and his billionaire buddies,” Martin continued. “Whether it’s billionaires at home or governments abroad, Trump won’t hesitate to sell out America’s working families to the highest bidder.”
Trump on Monday defended the administration’s plans to accept the jet, calling it a “great gesture” and saying he doesn’t plan to use the plane after he leaves office; the White House has said the plane will be accepted in compliance with the law. Trump and the White House have also repeatedly and forcefully denied that his private business interests amount to a conflict of interest.
In a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, after this story was initially published, assistant press secretary Liz Huston criticized the gambit, saying that Democrats are “spending their time flying plane props over Mar-a-Lago … It’s no wonder the woke and broke Democrat Party’s approval rating is at the lowest in history.”
-ABC News’ Oren Oppenheim
Trump calls for new Iran nuclear deal
In his final open remarks during his time in Riyadh, President Donald Trump echoed his calls for a nuclear deal with Iran and again touted his closeness with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“The whole world is watching the Middle East, and many are watching with envy,” Trump said. “You have something very special going on. Incredible opportunities are within reach for this region, if we can simply stop the aggression from a small group of pretty bad actors.”
Trump accused former President Joe Biden of having turned his “back on the Gulf allies,” but said that has changed.
“Those days are over,” he said. “Everybody at this table knows where my loyalties lie — always have. They’ll never waver, never, and we’ll stand with our friends and partners, and we’ll confront the aggression that threatens us all.”
Trump called for fellow leaders to enforce sanctions and secondary sanctions on Iranian oil that his administration has placed over the past few months, while pressing for a new nuclear deal.
“I want to make a deal with Iran,” he said.
“I want to do something if it’s possible, but for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
-ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart
Trump meets with Syrian leader Sharaa
The White House said President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during his visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also attended the meeting, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan joining by phone, the White House readout said.
Trump told Sharaa — who took power in December after a coalition of rebel groups toppled former President Bashar al-Assad — that he has “a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country” following the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, the readout said.
Their meeting was the first between American and Syrian heads of state since 2000, when President Bill Clinton met President Hafez al-Assad — Bashar’s father — in Geneva, Switzerland. Syria has been designated a state sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. since 1979.
Tuesday’s meeting is a coup for Sharaa. Until late December, he was still subject to a U.S. $10 million bounty due to his leadership of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist militant group, which remains a designated terrorist organization in the U.S. HTS was at the forefront of the rebel offensive that forced Assad to cede power and flee to Russia.
Trump urged Sharaa to normalize relations with Israel via the Abraham Accords series of agreements that began during Trump’s first term, eject all foreign terrorists — including Palestinian groups — from Syria, assist in preventing the regional resurgence of ISIS and assume responsibility for all ISIS detentions centers in the northeast of the country.
Sharaa thanked the other leaders for the meeting and also “recognized the significant opportunity presented by the Iranians leaving Syria, as well as shared U.S.-Syrian interests in countering terrorism and eliminating chemical weapons,” the White House said.
“Sharaa concluded with his hope that Syria would serve as a critical link in facilitating trade between east and west, and invited American companies to invest in Syrian oil and gas,” the White House said. The Russia-Ukraine war and the war in Gaza were also discussed, it added.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shared a photo on X showing Trump, Sharaa and Salman together.
-ABC News’ Alex Ederson and Michelle Stoddart
Trump to meet with Syrian president
President Donald Trump is expected to meet on Wednesday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, according to the White House.
“The President will do a pull aside with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa ahead of the GCC Summit this morning,” the White House said, using an acronym for the Gulf Cooperation Council summit, which is underway in Saudi Arabia.
The Syrian president, a former rebel leader, came to power as the country’s interim leader after the fall of President Bashar Assad in December. He was appointed president in January.
