Trump Proposes $10 Billion Fund to Rebuild Middle East Energy

President Donald Trump has proposed the creation of the Partnership for Allied Trust and Construction (PACT), a $10 billion investment fund designed to rebuild energy infrastructure in the Middle East. The initiative follows a seven-month conflict with Iran that caused extensive damage to refineries and ports, with some estimates placing losses at $58 billion within the first two months of the war.

The United States intends to invest $5 billion and seeks matching contributions from eight regional partners: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Iraq, and Jordan. Managed by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, the fund aims to repair pipelines and refineries while establishing new routes to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway carrying roughly one-fifth of global oil supplies.

Priority projects include a multi-phase Hormuz bypass in Saudi Arabia, the expansion of the Port of Duqm in Oman, the repair of aluminum smelter refineries in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and the reconstruction of a defunct pipeline from Iraq to the Mediterranean via Syria. These efforts coincide with a continuing U.S. naval blockade and air campaign against Iranian targets.

Some Middle Eastern officials have cautioned that rebuilding without a formal peace agreement with Tehran is premature, arguing that new facilities would remain vulnerable to Iranian drone and missile strikes. Meanwhile, Admiral Brad Cooper of U.S. Central Command reported that shipments through the Strait of Hormuz have reached their highest level in six months over the last two weeks.