Trump never imagined: while Saudi Arabia was flattering him, they were quietly giving China big gifts. These days, Trump has been quite impressive in the Middle East: Saudi Arabia signed a $60 billion investment agreement with the U.S., and Qatar offered to give him a private jet. Even more, Trump met with Jalani, the so-called "transitional president" of Syria (formerly known as Jolani). Now, people in the Middle East are discussing: what will be discussed when the leader of the world's most war-torn country meets the former head of a terrorist organization? It’s unclear if Jalani will thank Trump: “Thank you for removing me from the FBI's wanted list.” Previously, the U.S. had placed a multimillion-dollar bounty on Jalani due to his status as a terrorist leader. As they say, times change. Trump has done so much in the Middle East, and it's obvious to everyone that he is trying to regain face lost during the Sino-American tariff war in the Middle East. But the problem is, these Middle Eastern countries aren't fools; they don’t want to take sides between China and the U.S., especially the Saudi leadership, who are well aware that China is an irreplaceable market for them. Thus, something unimaginable by Trump happened: while Saudi Arabia was flattery him, they were secretly giving gifts to China. According to the latest news from the Saudi official website: recently, Saudi Arabia signed two agricultural product agreements with China worth over 20 billion RMB. This undoubtedly sends a message to the world: cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China will continue to grow, even during Trump's visit. In fact, ever since China successfully mediated the historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran in 2023, China's influence in the Middle East has been firmly established. This is also what the U.S. fears the most. From the Biden administration to the Trump administration, efforts have been made to stop China's progress in the Middle East. To this end, the Pentagon sent aircraft carriers and fighter jets there, but they were severely dealt with by the Houthi forces. The latest news from Washington on May 14th clearly stated that the U.S. Navy Chief of Operations has explicitly mentioned that they are investigating a series of accidents involving the USS "Truman" in the Red Sea. Recently, two U.S. carrier-based aircraft have crashed into the Red Sea, and multiple "Reaper" drones have been shot down. All this shows that the U.S. cannot expand its presence in the Middle East through military force. Next, Trump will certainly resort to diplomatic means to compete with China in the Middle East. Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832149273286666/ Disclaimer: The article solely represents the author's personal views.