There’s more to Donald Trump’s Middle East trip than billion-dollar contracts, parades of camels and a storm back home over Qatar’s offer to give the president a new Air Force One.

Click here to subscribe.When President Donald Trump met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the encounter went beyond the “hello” the White House had told reporters to expect.

A series of side deals by the U.S. administration is raising questions about how closely in sync the allies are over major challenges in the region.