The Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds reported Sunday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to join a high-level meeting in Riyadh this week with U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. According to the unnamed source cited in the report, the meeting—set to take place Tuesday in the Saudi capital—will also include Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
The source, who requested anonymity, claimed that the summit was proposed by bin Salman and approved by Trump. The report further suggested that the crown prince "expects Trump to accept the Saudi condition for the establishment of a Palestinian state,” describing such an agreement as a major diplomatic milestone for Riyadh.
Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates during his Middle East trip this week. However, according to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, speculation that Trump plans to announce U.S. recognition of a Palestinian state during the visit is unfounded.
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US President Donald Trump will meet with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas in Saudi Arabia
(Photo: AP)
"This report is nonsense," Huckabee wrote on the X platform. "Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.” Mocking the rumor, Huckabee added: "My 4-year-old grandson Teddy is more reliable. And take it from Teddy. This report is nonsense.”
The claims originated from The Media Line, a Middle East-focused independent news outlet, citing an anonymous source who alleged that Trump would deliver a statement recognizing a Palestinian state “without Hamas involvement.” The source also claimed the move could “shift the balance of power in the region and lead additional countries to join the Abraham Accords.”
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Israeli officials rejected the report, telling Ynet that “there are no indications this is true.”
While Trump’s itinerary for the trip centers on strengthening economic ties with the Gulf states and encouraging further investment in the U.S., insiders say a broader goal is to expand the Abraham Accords—Israel’s normalization agreements with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. Trump’s former senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is reportedly involved in shaping the agenda.
Officials familiar with the talks said the Trump team does not expect a deal with Saudi Arabia during this visit but views face-to-face meetings as key to future progress. “We fully anticipate that other countries will sign agreements before Saudi Arabia does,” one senior administration official said, adding that discussions are ongoing with “a wide range of nations.”