The United Arab Emirates' national security adviser, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, started an official visit to Washington on Monday, the first trip by the influential Emirati official and business tycoon across the Atlantic since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.
Why it matters: The Emirati royal is widely considered the UAE’s financial gatekeeper, responsible for greenlighting his country’s largest business deals. Sheikh Tahnoon chairs some of the UAE’s most important funds and businesses and is responsible for around $1.5 trillion in assets. Among them is G42, the Middle East’s largest artificial intelligence company. He also chairs the sovereign wealth fund ADQ and First Abu Dhabi Bank, International Holding Group and others.
Sheikh Tahnoon is set to meet several US officials at the White House, according to Emirati news agency WAM. The meetings will focus on advancing economic and technological ties between the two countries as well as ongoing regional challenges such as the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea. The United States began striking the Iran-backed rebels over the weekend in retaliation for attacks on American vessels in the Red Sea, killing at least 53 people and injuring almost 100 more in Yemen.
Sheikh Tahnoon is likely to meet with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and national security adviser Mike Waltz, though it's unclear whether he will meet with Trump, according to a March 13 Bloomberg report citing sources familiar with the matter.
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