ABU DHABI: US President Donald Trump arrived in Abu Dhabi on Thursday for a state visit to the United Arab Emirates, marking the final stop of his Middle East tour.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan welcomed the US President and his accompanying delegation as they arrived at the Presidential Airport.
Before his departure for the UAE, Trump, in a speech to US troops at the Al Udeid Air Base near Doha, said that defence purchases signed by Qatar on Wednesday are worth $42 billion.
As the US President’s aircraft entered UAE airspace, it was escorted by military jets in honour of his visit.
According to Reuters news agency, the visit will deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence.
The US has a preliminary agreement with the UAE to allow it to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips a year, starting this year.
The two countries have finalised a technology framework agreement that was expected to be signed later on Thursday, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The deal is expected to accelerate the UAE’s development of data centres, crucial for advancing artificial intelligence models. However, it has raised national security concerns within parts of the US government, and sources indicate that the terms of the agreement may still change.
Several major business agreements were signed during President Trump’s four-day tour of the Gulf region, including a deal for Qatar Airways to purchase up to 210 Boeing widebody jets, a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia in the US, and $142 billion in US arms sales to the kingdom.
While in Qatar, President Trump stated that the United States was nearing a nuclear agreement with Iran, noting that Tehran had “sort of” accepted the proposed terms.
On Tuesday, he also announced plans to lift longstanding US sanctions on Syria and later met with Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Artificial intelligence is expected to be a key focus in the final leg of Trump’s trip.
