The business and economic impact of Trump's Gulf visit

A lot of big numbers were thrown announced, but are they realistic?

Now that the dust has settled a bit on the first official foreign trip of Trump’s second term¹, let’s see if we can glean any insights from what went down in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE. Today, the focus will be on the economic and business implications. A future post will dive into the geopolitical ramifications (including lifting Syrian sanctions and bypassing Israel).

Two notable regulatory shifts made prior to the trip

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

In February, Trump instructed the DoJ to pause enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act claiming the Act was harming America’s “foreign policy objectives”. The FCPA, enacted in 1977, made it illegal for companies that operate in the US to bribe foreign officials to win business. By pausing enforcement, the White House argues it is leveling the playing field for US companies.

While on its face that may sound like the FCPA would solely harm American business opportunities abroad, experts are quick to point out that it actually engendered a more competitive global business market that benefited American companies. This is because it covers not just American firms, but any foreign company listed in the US or engages in a scheme that could impact the US. As such, it became essentially the global framework for policing corporate bribery and promoting anti-corruption as standard global practice. One 2019 study found enforcement of the FCPA resulted in foreign firms paying penalties four times higher than their American counterparts.

According to a Stanford Law School database, enforcement by the DoJ and SEC in the past decade has uncovered bribes of at least $8.6bn resulting in over $24bn in sanctions.²

Nearly five-months in to 2025, no new investigations have been opened and no enforcement actions taken.

Unlocking capital via the fast lane

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in the Gulf control ~40% of all SWF assets globally, and all three countries on Trump’s itinerary have massive funds.³ But since 2022, these SWFs have turned east and prioritized Asian investment, in particular China, India and Indonesia. Trump would clearly love to tap these deep pockets for investment.

Just days before Trump set off for the region, the US government introduced a pilot program for “fast-track” investment process which “Known Investors” can use to theoretically reduce the friction that currently slows down foreign investment into the US. This would ostensibly ease the path for foreign investment, including for all three of these Gulf state.

The location itself was telling

Trump 1.0’s first foreign trip was also to Saudi Arabia (in addition to Israel and Europe), so doing so again, while throwing in Qatar and the UAE, isn’t much of a surprise.