President Trump met with business leaders in Abu Dhabi on Friday, the final day of a three-nation Middle East tour marked by pomp, opulent receptions and announcements of business deals with wealthy Gulf states.
Mr. Trump was expected to visit an interfaith center in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, before leaving for the United States later on Friday, according to a schedule from the White House. Earlier this week, he visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the first major international visit of his second term.
Here are some key developments from Mr. Trump’s trip:
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Syria meeting: Mr. Trump spoke with Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Shara, on Wednesday in an extraordinary meeting that reversed longstanding U.S. policies toward the country and Mr. Shara, a former militant who once led a branch of Al Qaeda. A day earlier, Mr. Trump announced that he would lift U.S. sanctions on Syria, which would offer a significant economic lifeline to a country devastated by years of civil war.
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Deals, deals, deals: The White House has said Mr. Trump’s visit resulted in deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars for U.S. companies, including a large order from Qatar for Boeing passenger jets. But details have been sparse and some of the agreements had already been in the works.
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Iran negotiations: Mr. Trump also suggested that there had been progress in nuclear talks with Iran. While insisting that the United States would not allow Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon, he said his administration was in “very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace.”
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War in Gaza: Mr. Trump did not visit America’s biggest regional ally, Israel, and largely sidestepped the conflict in Gaza even as Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians across the territory. On Friday, he said he wanted to see the conflict resolved and made a rare acknowledgment of the civilian suffering there. “There’s a lot of people starving, a lot of bad things going on,” he said.
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Ukraine talks: Mr. Trump kept people guessing over whether he would travel to Turkey to bolster cease-fire talks involving Russia and Ukraine, but ultimately decided not to go. Russian and Ukrainian officials were in Istanbul for talks, along with top Trump administration officials, but President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was not attending and expectations for a breakthrough were low.
Qasim Nauman is a Times editor in Seoul, covering breaking news from around the world.
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