President Donald Trump will arrive in Riyadh on May 13 for a four-day Middle East tour, with business deals and economic partnerships taking precedence over traditional diplomatic priorities, according to multiple sources briefed on the trip preparations.

The upcoming talks and expected deals come as the US seeks to lock in deals with both Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the latter negotiating out of its long-term state of sanctions for more than four decades.

Trump's first formal state visit of his second term will take him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where he aims to secure $1tn in investments for US companies, building on an initial commitment of $600bn pledged by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Reuters reported on May 11.

The long-sought goal of Saudi-Israeli normalisation remains elusive due to the Gaza conflict, with Saudi Arabia demanding an immediate ceasefire and a credible path to Palestinian statehood as preconditions for restarting negotiations.

"The focus of this trip is business. It's economics. That tells you something," said Richard Haass, president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, to the US newspaper Washington Post "It's revealing about this administration that it's the first administration in the modern era to approach the world largely in economic and business terms rather than strategic or diplomatic terms."

In preparation for Trump’s visit, Saudi Arabian King Salman extended invitations to leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council countries to attend a Gulf-US summit scheduled during Trump's visit, Saudi Gazette reported on May 11.

The summit invitations were delivered to Kuwait's Sheikh Meshaal Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, and Bahrain's King Hamad Al-Khalifa through their respective Saudi ambassadors. Iraqi and Iranian officials are not expected to be part of the meetings.

Trump will present his vision for US engagement with Middle Eastern affairs and clarify policy priorities in the region during meetings with Gulf leaders, according to US news website Axios.

The visit follows in the footsteps of Trump's son Eric, who recently visited Qatar and the UAE to preside over Trump Organization deals involving real estate and cryptocurrency ventures. The Trump Organization announced new projects including an 80-floor hotel and tower in Dubai and a golf course outside Doha.

"It's frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on May 10. "This is a president who has actually lost money for being president of the United States."

Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told an audience at the Israeli embassy in Washington earlier that he expected progress on expanding the Abraham Accords. "We think we will have some or a lot of announcements very, very shortly, which we hope will yield progress by next year," Witkoff said.

However, opposition by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a permanent stop to the war or to Palestinian state creation makes progress unlikely, two Gulf sources close to official circles told Reuters.

"The Trump administration wants this trip to be a big deal. That means lots of splashy deal announcements and collaborations that can be sold as being good for America," said Robert Mogielnicki, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute.

Top US business executives will visit Riyadh to participate in a Saudi-US Investment Forum during Trump's trip. Those expected to attend include BlackRock's Larry Fink, Citigroup's Jane Fraser, and IBM's Arvind Krishna.

The wealthy kingdom knows the ritual well: dazzle the guest, secure the favour. Persian Gulf monarchies are expected to offer lavish displays of pomp and spectacle during Trump's hopscotch from Riyadh to Doha to Abu Dhabi.

Despite pressing regional security concerns including Gaza's fate, Iran's nuclear programme and regional power balances, White House aides said these issues would not be central during the visit, reflecting Trump's more restrained vision for the US role in the world.

Unusually, Trump does not plan to visit Israel during the trip despite its proximity. One senior White House official said there was no need for a conversation because Netanyahu had already visited Washington "700 times" since Trump's inauguration – actually twice, though still more than any other world leader.

Beneath the showmanship lies a calculated US effort to reassert influence in a region where China has steadily expanded its foothold at the heart of the petrodollar system, diplomats say.

"There is a real opportunity here, but the Trump administration in no way, shape or form wants to push it, because it's not interested in reshaping the region," said Steven A. Cook, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relation said to the Washington Post on May 11.