UAE’s Mohammed bin Hamad, Faisal Al Bannai meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Two UAE business leaders who advise President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on security and technology matters visited U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, and made a swing through the U.S. to meet with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and defense firm Anduril.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan, Chairman of Abu Dhabi Airports, and Faisal Al Bannai, Chairman of state-owned defense conglomerate EDGE Group, traveled to Palm Beach, Florida, for the weekend meeting at Trump’s residence and resort, they said in posts on X. Both hold senior advisory posts in the UAE Presidential Court.

The two also met separately with Jared Kushner, founder of Miami-based private equity firm Affinity Partners and Trump’s son-in-law. They were joined throughout the trip by Sheikh Zayed bin Mohammed bin Hamad Al Nahyan, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad’s son. 

Before meeting Trump, the Emirati leaders traveled to San Francisco and discussed “possible areas of collaboration” with venture capitalists Andreessen and Horowitz, founders of A16Z, Al Bannai said in a post on X. Among those joining the various meeting was Abdallah Abu Sheikh, founder of Abu Dhabi-based Astra Tech, and CEO of Botim. Musk met them at another stop.

The group also visited U.S. defense contractor Anduril, with which EDGE signed an agreement in November to form a joint drone aircraft venture.