May 13, 2025 - US President Donald Trump’s Middle East trip | CNN Politics

May 13, 2025 - US President Donald Trump’s Middle East trip

Betsy Klein

Antoinette Radford

Shania Shelton

Deva Lee

Kaanita Iyer

Tori B. Powell

By Betsy Klein, Antoinette Radford, Shania Shelton, Deva Lee, Kaanita Iyer and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 3:06 AM EDT, Wed May 14, 2025

President Donald Trump attends the Saudi-US Investment Forum, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on May 13.

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'Enemies get you motivated': Trump threatens 'maximum pressure' on Iran in speech

01:44 • Source: CNN

'Enemies get you motivated': Trump threatens 'maximum pressure' on Iran in speech

01:44

What we covered here

• Trump in Riyadh: The Trump administration signed several new agreements with Saudi Arabia today, including on military cooperation, as President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sought to highlight the countries’ close ties.

• Trump remarks at forum: Trump praised Middle Eastern leaders in a speech at an investment forum, while also indicating Saudi Arabia may join the Abraham Accords and issuing a stark message to Iran amid nuclear negotiations. The president also announced plans to lift sanctions on Syria following the fall of the Assad regime, a move that he said will “give them a chance at greatness.”

• Upcoming visits: Trump is expected to informally greet Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday before he departs for Doha, Qatar. Trump is also expected to travel to the United Arab Emirates later this week as part of his first major international trip of his second term.

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Our live coverage of Donald Trump’s presidency has ended for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.

“I’m all for Iran," Trump says, but adds that it “won’t be a nuclear power”

From CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg

President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired today on Fox News that he is “all for Iran” but added that the nation “won’t be a nuclear power.”

The president’s comments come as members of his administration have spent numerous weeks participating in high-stakes nuclear talks between Iran and the US.

The talks this past weekend were aimed at addressing Tehran’s nuclear program and lifting sanctions. That they are happening at all is something of a breakthrough — the talks are the highest-level between the two countries in years — but signs of firm progress are slim.

Both countries have expressed a willingness to resolve their disputes through diplomacy. A central issue remains Iran’s demand to continue enriching uranium for its nuclear program, which it insists is peaceful, something the US calls a “red line.”

Trump, who is in the Middle East this week, has threatened that the US would resort to military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, with Israel’s help, should Tehran fail to reach a deal with its interlocutors.

CNN’s Leila Gharagozlou, Rosa Rahimi and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.

Trump suggests Qatar approached him with luxury jet replacement for Air Force One

From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg

President Donald Trump suggested that Qatar approached him with the possibility of gifting a luxury jet replacement for Air Force One, claiming that one Qatari official said: “If I can help you, let me do that.”

The president’s remarks come after he announced Sunday night on social media that the Defense Department plans to accept a Boeing 747-8 jet to replace Air Force One as a “GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE.”

As CNN has previously reported, converting the luxury jet gifted by Qatar to Trump could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and it could take up two years to install the necessary security equipment, communications and defensive capabilities for it to be safely used by the commander in chief.