President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States is considering helping the United Arab Emirates financially and a currency swap with the Middle Eastern nation is being considered.
“It is,” Trump told CNBC when asked if a currency swap with the UAE was under consideration. He also called UAE “a good ally.”
“They’re really led by incredible people… I mean, I’m surprised, because they are really rich,” Trump said. “If I could help them, I would, I mean, we’re helping them much more with what we’re doing with the war,” Trump said referring to U.S. and Israel’s war with Iran.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the UAE’s central bank governor raised the idea of a currency swap line with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve officials in meetings in Washington last week, amid concerns about the effects of the war.
READ: UAE looks to US for financial lifeline as Iran war drags on (April 20, 2026)
“If the UAE had a problem – I find it hard to believe – but if they had a problem, we would be there for them,” said Trump.
The UAE and other Gulf countries have been hit especially hard by the war. Tehran had fired missiles at the U.S. allies in the region, damaging economic infrastructure. The disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have also largely choked off oil exports that the UAE depends on for cash flow.
The UAE is a particularly close ally of the Trump administration, having extended overtures to Washington since Trump returned to the White House. The country committed to invest more than $1 trillion in the U.S. last year. Leaders of the nation are also reportedly involved with Trump’s family business.
A potential currency swap comes with risks for Trump, as U.S. voters might disapprove of what they view as a bailout of a rich foreign country while American consumers deal with rising prices.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., a Republican senator who sits on the Senate Finance and Foreign Relations Committees, was cautiously supportive of the swap proposal. “They’re such a strong ally in the Middle East, I think we should look at what needs to be done to help them through this difficult time,” he told CNBC. ”[Treasury] Secretary Bessent, he’s good at a lot of things, the one thing he’s really good at in his own experience before he was secretary was currency swaps.”
“I think it’s something that the secretary is moving in that direction, and I support him in that,” he added.
READ: Kamala Harris: Trump ‘made us unreliable’ to allies on war leadership (April 20, 2026)
Democrats however, are a lot more critical of deals with the UAE. “Anytime I’ve seen the president doing anything else with the UAE is to the benefit of the Trump family,” said Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “I understand the UAE has been hit hard in that regard, and I want to make sure we help our friends and our allies in the region, but I would have to really examine that deal.”
The ultimate decision on swaps rests with the Federal Reserve, even if the administration is open to it.
Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to U.S., said he appreciated Trump’s recognition of the country as an important partner but maintained that the UAE’s economy remained resilient.
“Any suggestion that the UAE requires external financial backing misreads the facts,” he said in a statement posted on X by the embassy.
“The UAE and the United States will continue to prosper together for decades to come, not because one depends on the other for support, but because both benefit from one of the world’s most important economic partnerships,” he said.
