Here are 5 takeaways from Trump's first major foreign trip to the Middle East

President Trump was greeted similar royalty during his four-day travel to the Middle East.

There were opulent palaces, combatant pitchy escorts, a parade of camels and overmuch more.

It was precisely the benignant of pomp that makes Trump, with his emotion of a gold-plated lifestyle, envious.

His focus, helium said, was connected securing wealth and deals for the United States. The Gulf states obliged, trying to curry favour with the president done investments, arms deals and buying Boeing planes portion giving a precise lavish 1 away.

Here are 5 takeaways from Trump's trip:

1. A travel that played to Trump's ego

Trump is idiosyncratic who values fealty, powerfulness and glitz. He has gotten the fealty from unit and Cabinet appointees successful this 2nd term. He has ogled astatine the powerfulness of autocrats, similar Viktor Orban of Hungary and Russia's Vladimir Putin. He spends tons of clip astatine his glitzy Palm Beach, Fla. home, Mar-a-lago, and redecorated the Oval Office with tons of gold.

"You spot the caller and improved Oval Office," Trump boasted earlier this period during a gathering with Canada's caller premier minister, Mark Carney. "As it becomes much and much beauteous with love, you know, we grip it with large emotion and 24-karat golden — that ever helps, too."

He got overmuch the s genuflecting, leaders who regularisation with robust fists and marbled, aureate glamour.

2. A travel focused connected deals, but overshadowed by a plane

There were tons of financial agreements struck betwixt the United States, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, including: Qatar's state-backed hose buying Boeing jets, Qatar taking billions successful U.S. arms, UAE gathering an artificial quality campus, Saudi Arabia investing successful aesculapian and subject research, arsenic good arsenic different deals connected oil.

But Qatar's acquisition to Trump of a 747 to regenerate Air Force One has been the happening that has gotten the astir attraction and drawn disapproval — for antithetic reasons — left, close and MAGA.

Described arsenic a "flying palace" worthy immoderate $400 million, Trump is enamored with the jet. He called it a large "gesture," noted, "I would ne'er beryllium 1 to crook down that benignant of an offer" and said: "I could beryllium a anserine person, saying, 'No, we don't privation a free, precise costly airplane.'"

Trump called it a acquisition to the Defense Department, but it's not a level that would beryllium sticking astir aft Trump leaves office. He said it would beryllium decommissioned and sent to his statesmanlike library.

There are already recently designed Air Force One jets that Boeing is building, but Trump has been frustrated with delays.

"I've been doing this for 4 days," Trump said connected his past time of the trip. "I permission present and get onto a 42-year-old Boeing. But caller ones are coming, caller ones are coming."

3. Even galore Republicans deliberation accepting the level would beryllium a atrocious idea

Accepting the level would look to interruption the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution that bars specified gifts from overseas leaders and could besides lone get a mates years of use.

It would besides request to beryllium refurbished to cheque for listening devices, arsenic good arsenic breached down and enactment backmost unneurotic to conscionable the information requirements of a statesmanlike aircraft. That could take years and has a important further cost.

Trump whitethorn conscionable disregard each that and alert it anyhow — supra strenuous objections adjacent from wrong his ain party.

"There are tons of issues astir that that volition pull superior questions," Senate Republican person John Thune of South Dakota told reporters of the plane.

Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D. utilized an past metaphor connected CNN, informing against the gift. "It seems to maine the Greeks had thing similar that a long, agelong clip ago," helium said, "and idiosyncratic happened to bring a aureate equine wrong of a community."

The ever-colorful Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana delivered this connected Fox News: "I spot Qatar similar I spot a remainder halt bathroom. … With those guys, spot successful God, but necktie up your camel."

Trump is coming backmost from his travel facing tons of pushback for galore reasons astir the gift, including for wanting to judge a $400 cardinal level portion urging doll-and-pencil austerity connected different Americans.

4. Trump got what helium wanted — without immoderate nationalist conversations astir ideology oregon quality rights

Normally, American presidents who sojourn the Middle East speech of forging caller relationships, but besides are intimately watched for however they speech astir encouraging democracy. Trump, though, talked astir a Middle East helium sees arsenic evolving beyond "tired divisions" and "defined by commerce not chaos," "technology not terrorism."

"The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the alleged nation-builders, neocons oregon wide nonprofits similar those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to make Kabul, Baghdad, truthful galore different cities," Trump contended successful remarks from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

"Instead, the commencement of a modern Middle East has been brought by the radical of the portion themselves. The radical that are close here, the radical that person lived present each their lives, processing your ain sovereign countries, pursuing your ain unsocial visions and charting your ain destinies successful your ain way," Trump continued. It's truly unthinkable what you've done."

Trump's reductive and sanitized mentation of the portion ignores, for example, the "sportswashing" of countries similar Qatar, which won the close to big the 2022 FIFA shot World Cup, done bribes, according to the U.S. government. It besides built stadiums with planetary workers that saw dangerous moving conditions and deaths.

It ignores the UAE trying to amusement itself arsenic progressive connected the satellite stage, portion suppressing dissent and imprisoning dissidents, arsenic good arsenic its attraction of migrant workers and more.

It ignores that a Washington Post columnist disappeared from a Saudi embassy successful Turkey. It was aboriginal discovered helium had been killed successful a gruesome onslaught that U.S. quality says was ordered by the country's de facto person Mohammed bin Salman.

That's to accidental thing of women's rights, the deficiency of escaped elections and concentrations of wealthiness passed down done a prime fewer royal families.

For Trump, it seems that nary of that matters. It's transactions implicit principle, a pivot distant from American motivation leadership.

Taking a changeable astatine erstwhile presidents, Trump said, "In caller years, acold excessively galore American presidents person been afflicted with the conception that it's our occupation to look into the souls of overseas leaders and usage US argumentation to dispense justness for their sins."

5. The trip's absorption was deals — with a small learned astir his stances connected Syria, Iran, Gaza and Ukraine

Trump was connected this travel to get signatures connected the dotted enactment astatine the bottommost of the page. But it was intolerable to wholly flight immoderate of the large planetary flashpoints.

He made quality by lifting sanctions against Syria that person been successful spot for decades. He gripped and grinned with the country's caller leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, idiosyncratic who until precocious had a $10 cardinal bounty connected his caput for his apprehension by the United States for his past relation with Al Qaeda.

Though Trump was captious of past American presidents, who person gauged overseas leaders by looking into their "soul" — a notation to George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin — Trump heaped praise connected Syria's caller leader.

He judged him to beryllium "attractive" and "tough" with a "very beardown past. Fighter."

"He's got a existent changeable astatine holding it together," Trump surmised. "He's a existent leader. He led a charge, and he's beauteous amazing."

On Iran, Trump continued to beryllium anxious to forge a atomic deal, saying the U.S. was "in precise superior negotiations with Iran for semipermanent peace." He added, "It'll beryllium taken attraction of 100%, it'll beryllium done nicely oregon not nicely and the not nicely is not a bully happening for them. We're talking to them and I deliberation they've travel a agelong way."

Publicly, determination was nary superior in-depth treatment of Gaza, and Trump again floated the thought of the U.S. taking implicit the portion and making it a "freedom zone." But it besides seemed that Gulf leaders whitethorn person said thing down closed doors, due to the fact that Trump noted, "We person to assistance besides retired the Palestinians. You know, a batch of radical are starving successful Gaza, truthful we person to look astatine some sides."

Trump besides talked astir the Ukraine-Russia talks taking spot successful Turkey. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was successful Turkey, Trump wanted to attend, but Putin was a no-show. Not lone that, but Russia sent a low-level diplomatic delegation.

Russia watchers spot what Putin is doing arsenic different hold tactic, arsenic helium continues to effort and beforehand successful Ukraine.

At immoderate point, Trump has to marque the prime — whether helium volition proceed this creation with Putin oregon if helium loses patience.

The information is Trump made a batch of large promises astir ending the wars successful Gaza and Ukraine, but has truthful acold not been capable to deliver. He's moving into immoderate large personalities with Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, truthful far, are not bending to Trump's will.