The United Arab Emirates (UAE): Issues for U.S. Policy

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven principalities or “emirates.” Its population is 10 million, of which nearly 90% are expatriates from within and outside the region who work in its economy. The UAE is a U.S.-designated “major defense partner” that hosts U.S. military personnel at UAE military facilities and buys sophisticated U.S. military equipment, including missile defenses and combat aircraft. From 1950 to 2023, the United States implemented more than $33.8 billion in Foreign Military Sales for the UAE, making it the 11th largest U.S. defense customer by value worldwide. After over a decade (2011-2024) characterized by U.S.-Emirati policy differences on an array of regional issues (including the Arab spring, the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, and the overall U.S. commitment to Gulf security), the bilateral relationship appears to have improved. On September 23, 2024, in the first official state visit of a UAE president to Washington, DC since the UAE’s founding in 1971, UAE President Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed met with President Biden at the White House, where President Biden named the UAE a “major defense partner,” a designation created by Congress that had previously only been applied to India. Improved relations have continued during the Trump Administration, culminating in the President’s visit to the UAE in May 2025–the second time a U.S. President has visited the Emirates. After the visit, the White House announced that President Trump had secured over $200 billion in commercial deals between the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Beyond traditional defense ties, U.S.-Emirati relations have broadened into other domains, including into new fields, such as artificial intelligence. In May 2025, the United States and the UAE announced Emirati plans to purchase 500,000 of the most advanced Nvidia Corporation chips annually from 2025 to 2027. In 2024, the UAE was the second-largest U.S. trading partner by value ($34 billion) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region (after Israel). Since the October 2025 ceasefire and prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, the United States has sought UAE support as Israel and Hamas have advanced to “phase two,” a reference to the implementation of additional elements of President Trump’s 20-point plan for post-conflict transition in Gaza. As part of President Trump’s “phase two” plan, President Trump announced in January 2026 the formation of a Gaza Executive Board, which, along with a Board of Peace and its separate executive board, will be responsible for overseeing and supporting the Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with transitional governance in Gaza. Reem al Hashimy, the UAE’s Minister of State for International Cooperation, was named to the Gaza Executive Board. As of December 2025, the UAE remained the single largest country donor of humanitarian aid to Gaza. As civil war in Sudan continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), press reports and UN sanctions monitors have implicated the UAE in backing the RSF. Several Members of Congress have formally expressed concerns over the UAE’s reported role in the Sudan conflict. In the 119th Congress, Representative Sara Jacobs and Senator Chris Van Hollen reintroduced legislation (H.R. 2059 and S. 935) to restrict arms exports licenses to the UAE until the Trump Administration can certify that the UAE is not supplying arms to the RSF. Other Members, such as Senator Joni Ernst, have spoken in favor of the continued U.S.-UAE defense partnership.