President Donald J. Trump’s trip to the Middle East on May 13-16 comes on the heels of more than three months of whirlwind activity in US foreign policy where the region has been a higher priority than it was in the early months of the previous US administration.

The US president's foreign policy has been laid out unashamedly this week - it has been purely transactional - and in the Middle East it might just pay dividends. But might it work elsewhere, most of all to end Russia's war with Ukraine?

Or that he effectively auctioned off the first destination on his first major foreign trip, heading to Saudi Arabia because the kingdom was ready to make big investments in U.S. companies.It’s not even that the Trump family has fast-growing business ties in the Middle East that run deep and offer the potential of vast profits.

President Trump has always viewed the presidency as a worldwide hunt for deals. And there is no better place for that than the Gulf, where a few men wield absolute authority over vast wealth.