Scoop: Trump to hold summit with Gulf leaders during Saudi Arabia trip

President Trump is expected to hold a summit with Gulf state leaders during his visit to Saudi Arabia in mid-May, a U.S. official and two Arab officials told Axios. Why it matters: Trump's first official foreign trip reflects the growing importance his administration is placing on economic cooperation and investments between the U.S. and Gulf countries. The summit will be a chance for Trump to present his vision for U.S. involvement in the Middle East and lay out his policy objectives in the region.Driving the news: The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) is planning to invite to the summit the leaders of all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.Trump is expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia on May 13 and hold bilateral meetings. The summit is planned for the morning of May 14.There currently aren't plans to invite leaders of other Arab countries to the summit but that could change, an Arab official said. After the summit, Trump will travel to Doha for a meeting with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim al-Thani. On May 15, he'll visit Abu Dhabi and meet Emirati President Mohammed Bin Zayed (MBZ). The White House said official details of the trip will be announced soon. The Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment. Zoom in: U.S. and Arab officials said Trump's visit to the three Gulf countries is going to focus on bilateral issues, particularly investments, weapons sales and cooperation in artificial intelligence. On Friday, the State Department said it approved a possible $3.5 billion sale of medium range air-to-air missiles and supporting equipment to Saudi Arabia. The summit in Saudi Arabia will be the only part of Trump's visit with a broader regional focus and he isn't expected to use the trip to the Middle East to push forward any new diplomatic initiatives.Between the lines: Trump isn't currently planning to visit Israel during this trip. U.S. and Israeli officials said Trump doesn't have anything he can get out of a visit to Israel at the moment, especially since a Gaza hostage-release and ceasefire deal isn't imminent. The big picture: Trump will arrive in the region as the U.S. negotiates a possible nuclear deal with Iran.U.S. officials said Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other countries in the region expressed support for a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal and encouraged Trump administration officials to continue pushing for it.Flashback: In his first term as president, Trump's first foreign trip was to Saudi Arabia. During that trip in 2017 he held a summit in Riyadh with the leaders of dozens of Arab and Muslim countries. During President Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia in 2022, he held a summit with the leaders of the Gulf states, Iraq, Jordan and Egypt.

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