On May 12, shortly before Trump’s visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United States State Department approved two arms sales to the UAE that are collectively worth $1.4 million.
On May 15, Trump announced that RTX, a major aerospace and defense firm, inked a memorandum of understanding with Emirates Global Aluminum to cooperate on the production of gallium, which is a critical chemical in the development of advanced radars.
A day later, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his Emirati counterpart, Mohammed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, signed a Letter of Intent (LOI).
“This LOI represents a shared commitment to develop a structured roadmap that will guide enhanced military-to-military cooperation, joint capability development, and long-term defense alignment between the two nations,” the statement said, adding that both sides will “explore a phased framework for advancing bilateral force readiness, interoperability, and innovation-driven collaboration.”
As part of the partnership, a new strategic initiative was launched between the US Defense Innovation Unit and the UAE’s defense contracting authority, Tawazun Council, aimed at boosting mutual research and development as well as partnerships.
“Additionally, the UAE was formally welcomed into the U.S. National Guard State Partnership Program (SPP) through a partnership with the Texas National Guard. The SPP will bolster military modernization effort and enhance cooperation in integrated air and missile defense, cybersecurity, disaster response, and operational planning,” the Pentagon stated.
Breaking Defense
While an F-35 deal was not reached, potentially out of concern for maintaining Israel’s relative military superiority in the region, it is expected that Trump will accelerate “export licenses facilitating UAE’s path to potentially gain some of ‘the United States as most advanced hardware.’” This may make it easier for the UAE to acquire non-scaled back F-35s in the future.
Future weapons sales to the UAE and other American gulf allies are likely in the future, as indicated by a Trump executive order signed in April 2025 that loosen regulations on such exports.
The initial May 12 sale overcame a hold on its approval by Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, out of concern for the UAE’s backing of the Rapid Support Forces, which has been implicated in war crimes and genocide amid Sudan’s all-out civil war. While the type of hold that Meeks utilized was informal, previous presidents have acknowledged Congress’s say over weapons sales until both it and the White House have fully mulled over the matter and reached a consensus.
Trump also formalized deeper economic ties with the UAE. On May 15, the UAE agreed, via Etihad Airways, to invest $14.5 billion in 28 Boeing 787 and 777x aircraft powered by GE Aerospace-produced engines.
The U.S. Commerce Department said the two countries also agreed to establish a “US-UAE AI Acceleration Partnership” framework and Trump and Sheikh Mohamed attended the unveiling of a new 5GW AI campus, which would be the largest outside the United States.
Sources have said the agreements will give the Gulf country expanded access to advanced artificial intelligence chips from the U.S. after previously facing restrictions over Washington’s concerns that China could access the technology.
Reuters
This artificial intelligence (AI) agreement builds upon a preliminary agreement that would allow the UAE to import 500,000 of Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips per year. The agreement commits the UAE to investing in and building American data centers “that are at least as large and as powerful as those in the UAE.” While the deal also aligns the UAE’s national security regulations with the United States, there are still concerns in some parts of the government that American technology could slip into the hands of adversaries such as China.
Emirates Global Aluminum did not just make a deal with RTX.
It [a White House fact sheet] said Emirates Global Aluminum would invest to develop a $4 billion primary aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, while ExxonMobil Corp (XOM.N), Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), and EOG Resources (EOG.N) were partnering with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOCDIST.AD) in expanded oil and natural gas production valued at $60 billion.
Reuters
More conflicts of interest
Similar to Trump’s dealings with Saudi Arabia, golf-related corruption is at play. Emirati DAMAC Properties, which just so happened to be one of the companies investing in the aforementioned American AI data centers, also funded Trump’s golf courses in Dubai in 2013.
Trump’s cryptocurrency scam also looms over his relationship to the UAE.
As with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Trump stands to personally gain from his dealings in the UAE, notable through World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency company partly owned by Trump and his family. Earlier this month, the company announced that Abu Dhabi state-backed firm MGX would use $2 billion worth of its stablecoin to finance a deal in crypto exchange company Binance—a deal that will generate millions of dollars for the Trump family.
The Center for American Progress
Trump ally, the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has exploited Trump’s close ties with the UAE for his own gain. His other company, Neuralink, announced a deal with the UAE.
Musk’s family have also involved themselves in the grift, indicating that corruption may be a genetic trait.
Mr. Musk joined Saudi and U.S. officials for lunch with other business leaders last Tuesday. The White House invite list also included his younger brother, Kimbal Musk, whose company Nova Sky Stories recently announced agreements with Qatar and Abu Dhabi to provide a series of drone light shows. Kimbal Musk said on social media that the Abu Dhabi events would feature 10,000 drones, making them “the world’s largest” of their kind.
Earlier this year Maye Musk, the mother of Kimbal and Elon Musk, was a headliner at a government conference in the Emirates. And Errol Musk, Elon Musk’s father, has said that he is in talks with an Emirati firm to build a Musk Tower in Dubai to house the Musk Institute, a planned technology hub.
The New York Times
To finance this tower, Errol Musk is seeking to raise $150 million and $200 million via his cryptocurrency, MuskIt.
