Trump visits main US military base in Middle East as violence flares in Gaza

Doha | US President Donald Trump on Thursday visited a US base installation at the centre of American involvement in the Middle East as he uses his four-day visit to Gulf states to reject the “interventionism” of America's past in the region.

Trump plans to address troops at Qatar's al-Udeid Air Base, which was a major staging ground during the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It also supported the recent US air campaign against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, though the strikes themselves came from two aircraft carriers in the region.

The president has held up Gulf nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as models for economic development in a region plagued by conflict as he works to entice Iran to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme.

The President also meets business leaders in Qatar and heads to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.