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From Nixon to Trump: A look at US presidential visits to the Gulf
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From Nixon to Trump: A look at US presidential visits to the Gulf
As Trump prepares for his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Al-Monitor looks back at the history of US presidential trips to the Gulf.
President Donald Trump is greeted by Air Force Col. Paul R. Pawluk as he arrives to board Air Force One on May 12, 2025, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. — Win McNamee/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is heading back to the Gulf on Tuesday, with planned stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, revisiting the region that hosted his first foreign trip in office and where he signed the largest arms deal in American history with Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s return underscores the longstanding importance of the Gulf in US foreign policy in the Middle East. US presidential visits to the Gulf began with Richard Nixon’s historic visit to Saudi Arabia in 1974 and continued through the years as other presidents navigated war, diplomacy and oil in the region.
President Richard Nixon became the first sitting US president to visit the Gulf when he landed in Saudi Arabia on June 14, 1974. The visit was part of a tour that included stops in Iran, Egypt, Syria and Israel. While in Riyadh, Nixon met with Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal, seeking to stabilize relations in the aftermath of the 1973 oil embargo, when Arab oil producers cut exports to the US in retaliation for its support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War, causing fuel shortages and economic turmoil in the West.
US President Richard Nixon (R)) with King Faisal of Saudi Arabia (L) meet on the South Portico of the White House in Washington on June 2, 1971. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Four years later, President Jimmy Carter followed suit, visiting Saudi Arabia in January 1978. He met King Khalid and Crown Prince Fahd and also made stops in Iran and Egypt.
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