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(Bloomberg) — The White House said President Donald Trump had secured deals totaling more than $243.5 billion with Qatar, laying the groundwork for a bigger $1.2 trillion economic pledge with the tiny Gulf country.
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“The landmark deals celebrated today will drive innovation and prosperity for generations, bolster American manufacturing and technological leadership, and put America on the path to a new Golden Age,” the White House said.
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The announcement came on the second leg of Trump’s swing through the Middle East, a day after the president touted some $600 billion in investments by Saudi Arabia in US manufacturing, products and services.
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Trump has focused much of his energy on the trip in securing investment dollars, while praising Gulf states for seeking a deeper partnership with the US.
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Trump’s take so far has fallen short of his ambitions for an even bigger haul; the president had floated the possibility of securing $1 trillion in investment pledges from Saudi companies and on Tuesday said the two nations would work toward that goal.
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Earlier Wednesday, the White House announced that Qatar Airways had inked a $96 billion plan to acquire as many as 210 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft. The White House cast the buy as the largest-ever widebody order and the largest-ever for the 787s.
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Earlier: Boeing Wins Largest-Ever Order as Qatar Buys Long-Range Jets
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A critical focus of the partnership with Qatar is defense. The US and Qatari governments have signed off on a $1 billion agreement for Raytheon, a major American defense contractor, to provide counter-drone capabilities to Qatar. The agreement would make Qatar the first international customer for Raytheon’s Fixed Site-Low, Slow, Small Unmanned Aerial System Integrated Defeat System, which is designed to counter unmanned aircraft.
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General Atomics also secured a nearly $2 billion agreement for Qatar to acquire MQ-9B drones, according to the White House. And the two countries signed a statement of intent to bolster security partnerships that outlines over $28 billion in potential investments.
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Despite its modest size, Qatar has taken on increasing importance for US security as well as Trump’s ambitions to broker a Mideast peace deal between Israel and Hamas. It’s also grown in stature for Trump, key presidential allies to the president and his family business, the Trump Organization, which recently inked an agreement to develop a golf course, clubhouse and beachfront villas on its coast.
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Qatar is home to the Al Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in the region. The sprawling complex serves as a logistics hub for the US Central Command and is set to host American troops for at least another decade, under an agreement reached last year. In 2022, former President Joe Biden named Qatar a major non-NATO ally for the US.
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The White House also touted partnerships between McDermott International Ltd. and Qatar Energy worth $8.5 billion as well as 30 projects worth up to $97 billion for Parsons Corp.
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Other partnerships highlighted by the White House include ventures between Quantinuum and Al Rabban Capital, which would invest up to $1 billion in quantum technologies and workforce development in the US.
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Like the other Gulf states Trump is visiting, Qatar has sought to strengthen its ties with the US — including through direct investment in the country. On Thursday, Trump is slated to visit Abu Dhabi.
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—With assistance from Kate Sullivan.
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(Updates with additional details, background throughout)
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English (US)