Trump says he wants US to ‘take’ Gaza and turn it into ‘freedom zone’ as he visits the UAE: Live updates

Donald Trump’s visit to the United Arab Emirates comes as the Senate Democrats push the Gulf coutnry to halt what the U.S. and U.N. and rights groups say are arms shipments to one of the sides in Sudan’s devastating war.

The U.S. has sanctions on U.A.E. companies over weapons deliveries to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, whose fight with a rival has uprooted millions of Sudanese and spurred atrocities and starvation. Aid groups call it one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

U.A.E.’s arms deliveries are also raising the risk of a “broader conflict that could destabilize the whole region,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said this week.

Ahead of Trump’s trip, “my message to the U.A.E. is to stop extending the aid” and work to stop the fighting, Shaheen said.

The U.A.E., a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and a U.S. ally, has been repeatedly accused of arming the R.S.F., something it has strenuously denied despite evidence to the contrary.

Unlike his previous two stops, Donald Trump did not disembark Air Force One on the tarmac.

While it was less visually grand, it has been about 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius) each day of his trip.

In Abu Dhabi, the presidential plane instead pulled straight up to the air-conditioned airport terminal where Trump was greeted by United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

A young girl handed the president a bouquet of flowers, while armed guards stood to attention along the halls.

Young girls with gold chains in their hair waved American and Emirati flags.

Donald Trump has just arrived in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on the third leg of his tour of the Middle East.

Ahead of his arrival to the United Arab Emirates, Donald Trump said he got a huge reception at a state dinner in Qatar on Wednesday night.

“I shook more hands than any human being is capable of doing. That was a long deal, and they were big people, but they were starving for love, because our country didn’t give [them] love,” he said.

“So we had a great, I mean, good. You saw the Boeing order was 160 jets. It’s the biggest order in the history, I think, of aviation of certainly, of that size. They’re all 780 sevens and 770 sevens as the big ones. We really had a good time.”

Donald Trump has hailed his Middle East tour as a triumph, claiming he has raised “trillions of dollars” of investment into the U.S.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One en route to Abu Dhabi, the president also said he had great relationships with the Gulf nations.

“This has been an amazing trip. We’ve raised trillions of dollars of investment for our country, and we’re dealing with really good people that have been abandoned in a way by our country and by the United States, and we’re not going to abandon [them],” he said.

“We have very good friends in Saudi Arabia and in Qatar. So now we’re going to UAE, we’ll be landing shortly, and we have another really good situation there, but they felt it bad that they were going to be captured by China, from the standpoint of trade, and that’s not going to happen anymore.”

The third stop on the president’s tour of Gulf nations is the United Arab Emirates, and he will arrive in the capital Abu Dhabi shortly.

Donald Trump will visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and be honored with a state visit with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the Qasr Al Watan palace.

UAE leaders are also hoping for U.S. help to make the nation a global leader in artificial intelligence.

Germany’s finance minister has warned that the EU is prepared to act if tariff negotiations with Washington yield no result.

Lars Klingbeil said the European Union must unite in the face of U.S. tariffs.

“We must respond to the U.S. tariffs with unity and determination,” Klingbeil told the German parliament.

“We expect that the negotiations … will lead to a good result, but I would also like to make it very clear that we are prepared to act if this does not succeed,” he said.

European trade ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss EU-U.S. trade relations and economic security.

The EU had previously voted to raise tariffs on U.S. goods after Donald Trump introduced high reciprocal tariffs, but decided to pause that action after the White House also paused the introduction of higher duties.