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Donald Trump

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Donald Trump and his impact on Middle East business from AGBI

Oil refinery worker. Saudi Arabia and other Opec members could be forced to boost output to offset a short-term loss in income, says one expert

Trump’s oil policy ‘problematic’ for Gulf producers, economists warn

Gulf oil producers should be worried about President Donald Trump‘s energy policy, economists have warned, as it could widen their budget deficits. Oil prices have already dipped in response to Trump’s pledge on Monday to boost US hydrocarbon production and they could plunge far below the breakeven prices adopted by Gulf governments in their annual […]

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman listen to Donald Trump talking about the Stargate project at the White House

Gulf has a strong hand in Trump’s $500bn AI project

Two of the three tech giants that will spend billions of dollars building US artificial intelligence infrastructure in a partnership announced by President Donald Trump have been the recipients of significant Gulf investment. Japan’s SoftBank and US companies OpenAI and Oracle have committed $500 billion over four years to Stargate, an entity tasked with building […]

Amin Nasser, CEO of Aramco, at the Future Investment Initiative; he told Reuters oil demand this year will approach 106 million barrels per day

Aramco chief expects extra oil demand of 1.3m bpd

Saudi oil giant Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser said on Tuesday he sees the oil market as healthy and expects an additional 1.3 million barrels per day of demand this year. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Nasser was responding to a question on the impact of US President Donald Trump’s energy […]

Trump and tech

Tech and crypto make a mark as Trump takes charge

Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday as the 47th President of the United States was an overt display of the evolving ties between technology, politics and finance.  The presence of tech industry titans and the cryptocurrency market’s dramatic response highlighted the strong relationship between Trump’s administration and the tech world, with potential long-term impacts for Gulf […]

Person, Worker, Adult

Turkey’s exports to US surge but tariffs are a threat

Turkey’s exports to the US rose by $1.26 billion year on year to more than $13 billion in 2024, official data shows. The chemical and chemical products sector accounted for the largest share of exports at $1.5 billion, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing data from the Türkiye Exporters’ Assembly (TİM). The automotive industry followed at $1.2 […]

Donald Trump, flanked by the first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and US House speaker Mike Johnson, addressed energy and trade at his inauguration

Trump doubles down on energy and trade on first day in job

US President Donald Trump pushed forward with multiple, controversial campaign pledges on the first day of his second term in the White House, including on issues such as energy and trade that are bound to affect Gulf economies. Ascribing stubbornly high inflation to “massive” government overspending and “escalating” energy prices, Trump declared after his inauguration […]

The minerals and metals sector dipped slightly on Donald Trump's presidential election victory but has remained largely resilient to talk of tariffs

Trump’s bravado fails to spook minerals market – so far

Ordinarily, commodity markets tend to react strongly when leaders of major global economies announce plans for war and conquest. If those plans involve disrupting one of the world’s most important sea lanes and reversing centuries of peace with two major allies, you might even expect a certain panic. Yet, when US President-elect Donald Trump declined […]

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Donald Trump during the latter's first term. An expectant Saudi Arabia is prepared to face the challenges and opportunities of his second

Trump inauguration: Saudi Arabia comes into focus

Saudi Arabia looms large as Donald Trump moves back into the White House for a second term as US president, and there are many opportunities for cooperation along with significant challenges. Since Trump was first elected in 2016, one would be “hard pressed” to name a more changed nation than Saudi Arabia, according to Richard […]

Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and Eagle Hills have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade

Eagle Hills plans Trump hotel project with Kushner

The Abu Dhabi-based developer Eagle Hills and Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.  The project, on the site of the former Yugoslav defence ministry, will feature a 175-room Trump hotel as its centrepiece, and 1,500 […]

Donald Trump and President Biden talk in the Oval Office at the White House after Trump's election victory last November

Tariffs and tech on the UAE’s radar as Trump takes office

When billionaire developer Hussain Sajwani appeared on stage with Donald Trump earlier this month to announce $20 billion worth of investment in US data centres, he did not hide his glee about the Republican’s return to the White House. The chairman of UAE-based Damac Properties called Trump’s re-election in November “amazing news” and said his […]

Antony Blinken Saudi Israel

Blinken says Saudi-Israeli deal ‘much closer’ in final speech

The long sought-after normalisation of bilateral relationships between Saudi Arabia and Israel remains within reach and is the best path toward a stable Middle East, Antony Blinken said yesterday in his final speech as US secretary of state. “Much of the heavy lifting for normalisation is complete, including negotiations on complex US-Saudi elements of an […]

US president Joe Biden imposed the broadest package of sanctions so far targeting Russia's oil and gas revenues on Friday

Oil may hit $90 on Russia curbs and Iran output cut

Brent crude oil prices could rise above $85 a barrel in the short-term if the latest round of US sanctions against Moscow leads to lower Russian oil output, Goldman Sachs said on Sunday. Prices could touch $90 a barrel if the decline in Russian output coincides with a reduction in Iranian production, the bank said. US president Joe Biden imposed the broadest package of sanctions so […]

Damac tokenise Mantra

Damac to tokenise $1bn in real estate

Damac Group, the Dubai property company, has partnered with the Hong Kong-based blockchain platform Mantra to tokenise assets worth at least $1 billion. The project will use blockchain technology to create digital tokens representing ownership or rights to Damac’s assets, allowing them to be traded online.  Tokenisation is intended to lower barriers to investment by […]

US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP in May 2019

Trump tariffs: Middle East braces for pain after gain

Middle East exporters to the US are likely to see a short-term increase in business ahead of the much talked about trade tariffs which are expected to be announced when Donald Trump returns to the White House this month. The US president-elect campaigned on a protectionist America-first agenda, promising to introduce sweeping tariffs globally. Trump […]

Turkey trade

Turkey hopes trade deals will protect it from Trump’s tariffs

Turkey’s network of trade agreements, combined with its pivotal role as a major regional logistics and services provider, should help it weather any trade policy shifts by Washington in the coming years, according to the country’s finance minister.  Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association in Istanbul on January 8, […]

Oman FDI Donald Trump Fahd bin Mahmoud Al-Said

Trump tariffs could hit foreign investment, Oman warns

Oman’s buoyant non-oil sector will help the sultanate’s economy expand this year at nearly twice the rate of 2024, its sovereign wealth fund has forecast. However, the fund warned that US president-elect Donald Trump’s plans to implement tariffs on its trading partners could hamper ambitions by the sultanate to increase foreign direct investment and reduce […]

Iran China Chinese oil tanks

Iran seeks to free 25m barrels of oil stuck in Chinese ports

Iran is pushing to free 25 million barrels of the country’s oil that has been stuck for six years in Chinese ports because of sanctions imposed by Donald Trump during his first presidency, sources have said. Trump is expected by analysts to tighten sanctions again on Iranian oil exports tolimit Tehran’s income when he returns […]

President-elect Donald Trump called Damac chairman Hussain Sajwani “one of the most respected business leaders in the Middle East, indeed the world"

Trump reveals $20bn from Sajwani for US data centres

Incoming US president Donald Trump and Hussain Sajwani, the billionaire chairman of Damac Properties, announced on Tuesday that the emirati will invest “at least” $20 billion in data centres across the US. The move represents the official entry of EDGNEX, Damac’s specialised subsidiary, into the American market as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence […]