Donald Trump’s May 2025 Tour of UAE: An Autocrat’s Aspirations on Display
On May 15, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump visited Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque as part of a wider Middle East tour, showcasing his admiration for the region’s opulent architecture, centralized power structures, and symbolic authoritarian aesthetics. Standing alongside UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Trump praised the “beautiful culture” while appearing visibly captivated by the grandeur rather than the ceremony or local customs. The visit included the awarding of the Order of Zayed, a civilian honor emblematic of mutual recognition among elite rulers. Trump’s entourage—composed largely of loyalists with tenuous diplomatic purpose—mirrored the entourage of an aspiring monarch rather than a democratic statesman. His alignment with Arab strongmen, focus on gold-gilded excess, and invitation of U.S. corporate elites underscores a pivot from democratic ideals toward a transactional, authoritarian admiration rooted in spectacle, wealth consolidation, and unchecked suckling at the teat of murderers who have journalists cut to pieces in the night.