US President Donald Trump yesterday visited a US military base at the center of US involvement in the Middle East, having earlier touted a Qatar Airways order for Boeing aircraft inked during his four-day visit to Gulf states.
Trump was to address troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, which was a major staging ground during the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and supported a recent US air campaign against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Trump has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program.
Photo: Reuters
At a business forum, Trump sat with GE Aerospace chief executive officer Larry Culp and Boeing Co CEO Kelly Ortberg on either side of him.
Both praised Trump for his support for Qatar Airways’ order for Boeing aircraft.
Ortberg called it one of the largest orders Boeing has ever had.
Trump on Wednesday said that Qatar Airways had placed a “record” order for 160 planes from Boeing, as he signed a raft of deals alongside Qatar’s emir.
The order, Boeing’s largest ever for its wide-body jets, deepens ties between the US aerospace giant and the giant Middle East carrier.
Qatar Airways would honor a “[US]$96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines,” a White House fact sheet showed.
“This is Boeing’s largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” it said.
The order is comprised of 130 Dreamliner planes and 30 Boeing 777-9 jets, which are still being certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
There are also options for 50 additional 787 and 777X planes, Boeing said in a statement.
“We are deeply honored that Qatar Airways has placed this record-breaking order with Boeing, one that solidifies their future fleet,” Boeing commercial plane chief Stephanie Pope said.
Ortberg joined Trump for part of Wednesday’s signing ceremony that also included defense agreements and the purchase by Qatar of US-made MQ-9B drones, after about two hours of talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
“It’s over [US]$200 billion, but [US$]160 [billion] in terms of the jets. That’s fantastic. So that’s a record,” Trump said, adding: “It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing. That’s pretty good.”
Speaking yesterday on the situation between Israel and Hamas, Trump said that he wanted the US to “take” Gaza and turn it into a “freedom zone.”
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” he said.
“I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone,” he added.
The president was to travel to the United Arab Emirates, the final leg of his first major foreign trip.
He was to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and attend a state visit hosted at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr al-Watan palace.
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