President Donald J. Trump’s trip to the Middle East on May 13-16 comes on the heels of more than three months of whirlwind activity in US foreign policy where the region has been a higher priority than it was in the early months of the previous US administration.

It’s not just the “gesture” of a $400 million luxury plane that President Donald Trump says he’s smart to accept from Qatar. Or that he effectively auctioned off the first destination on his first major foreign trip,

The US president's foreign policy has been laid out unashamedly this week - it has been purely transactional - and in the Middle East it might just pay dividends. But might it work elsewhere, most of all to end Russia's war with Ukraine?

President Trump has always viewed the presidency as a worldwide hunt for deals. And there is no better place for that than the Gulf, where a few men wield absolute authority over vast wealth.

The Trump family’s business ties to the Middle East have more than tripled since the president’s first term in office, a CNN a tally of the deals has found – including a slew of new projects announced since he reclaimed the White House.