President Trump called on Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel during a speech to the oil-rich kingdom’s leaders on Tuesday — saying “you’ll be greatly honoring me” by doing so. Trump frequently referred to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by name during his speech at the Saudi-US investment forum as the country’s de facto ruler watched from the front row,

President Donald Trump‘s first foreign trip of his second term is underway. The president is visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. But Trump will not be visiting Israel. The exclusion of America’s historic Middle Eastern ally from Trump’s itinerary is a marked example of Trump’s declining sympathy for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s

Saudi Arabia is of key diplomatic importance to the Trump White House, especially amid ongoing tension in the Middle East and the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump said during his trip to Saudi Arabia he wants the Gulf kingdom to join the Abraham Accords and normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.

When Donald Trump lands in Riyadh, he will be greeted with opulent ceremonies, gilded palaces and the prospect of major investments. But the war in Gaza denies him one goal he craves: Saudi-Israel normalization.

Colorful career criminal Willie Sutton once may (or may not) have been asked why he robbed banks. “Because that is where the money is,” he

The failure to expand the Abraham Accords was a sore point. Shaw noted, “Trump went all the way to the Middle East, and one of the prizes he wanted… was to bring Saudi Arabia aboard the Abraham Accords. He failed on that.” Chodoff also observed the lack of consequences for Saudi Arabia’s refusal to do so.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are two Sunni powerhouses that have had a complicated and often contentious relationship over the years