Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser, meets US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Photo: @hhtbzayed
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and National Security Adviser, meets US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Photo: @hhtbzayed

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed meets US Treasury Secretary during Washington visit



Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE National Security Adviser, met US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a visit to Washington for discussions with officials in President Donald Trump's administration

"We discussed avenues for mutual co-operation in the economic, financial and advanced technology sectors, including artificial intelligence, energy and infrastructure," Sheikh Tahnoon wrote on X, adding that the UAE and US have long shared strategic relations.

"We also addressed the developments associated with these areas and explored ways to further strengthen them to serve the interests of our two friendly nations."

According to a source with knowledge of the visit, Mr Trump is expected to host UAE officials for dinner on Tuesday.

The US and UAE share strong trade ties. Bilateral trade totalled $34.4 billion last year, according to the Office of the US Trade Representative.

On Monday, Sheikh Tahnoon met American officials at the White House, where talks also focused on artificial intelligence and investment partnerships.

Also during the visit, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, and Yousef Al Otaiba, Minister of State and the UAE ambassador to the US, met US Vice President JD Vance.

The meeting was focused on "deepening UAE-US collaboration on supporting energy investment and abundance, technological leadership and unleashing unprecedented economic growth”, the UAE embassy said in a post on X.

On Tuesday during his speech at the American Dynamism Summit in Washington, Mr Vance reflected on the UAE's White House visit, and spoke highly of the UAE's affinity for AI.

"We’re thrilled to have our friends from the United Arab Emirates, a number of the business leaders and government leaders, in town this week for meetings with our government," he told those in attendance.

"One of the things they [UAE] consistently hammer upon – it’s something that unfortunately too few of our European allies tend to get – is that if you want to lead in artificial intelligence, you have got to be leading in energy production."

The visit by UAE officials to the White House culminated in the announcement of a deal between Abu Dhabi's government, Microsoft and Core42 to enhance the efficiency of services.

The partnership will establish high-performance cloud software capable of processing more than 11 million digital transactions a day between government entities, citizens, residents and businesses.

Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, Deputy Ruler of Abu Dhabi and UAE National Security Adviser, oversaw the signing of the deal with Microsoft and Core42. Photo: Wam

"Digital transformation and innovation are indispensable to creating modern, citizen centric governments," Microsoft's UAE general manager Naim Yazbeck told The National.

"Together, we are committed to supporting the Abu Dhabi government in enhancing public services, engaging with citizens and making data-driven decisions to achieve better societal outcomes."

Members of the Trump administration said the meetings with the UAE officials also touched on regional challenges, as well as strengthening the “decades-long US-UAE security partnership”.

Updated: March 19, 2025, 9:42 AM