Reuters May 13, 2025
Israel normalization won’t be on table as Trump visits Saudis, sources say

As U.S. President Donald Trump makes his way to Riyadh, sources tell Reuters that both the Americans and Saudis will likely avoid the topic of normalization with Israel during talks, which are expected to focus on economic deals rather than diplomacy or statecraft.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said last week that he imminently expected progress on expanding the Abraham Accords, a set of deals brokered by Trump in his first term under which Arab states including the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco recognized Israel.

But opposition by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a permanent stop to the war in Gaza or to the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress on similar talks with Riyadh unlikely, sources tell Reuters.

Trump is expected to land at Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport at 9:45 a.m.
He is slated to hold meetings with Saudi leaders starting at noon, according to the White House.

Trump’s second and third stops — in Qatar on Wednesday and the UAE on Thursday — are similarly expected to focus on economic issues.