Mukesh Ambani lands in Doha the week of Trump's state dinner with the Emir

Mukesh Ambani flew from Mumbai to Doha on May 14, 2025, aboard his Boeing 737 MAX 9 BBJ, VT-AKV. The flight arrived the same week President Donald Trump was in Qatar for a state dinner hosted by Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the Lusail Palace — an event Ambani attended, per a Firstpost report. It was his second meeting with Trump since the president returned to office in January.

The Doha trip comes as Reliance Industries navigates a complex geopolitical moment. The conglomerate secured waivers last year to resume Venezuelan crude imports, only to halt them in March after Trump imposed a 25% tariff on buyers of that oil, as Firstpost noted. Meanwhile, Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, QIA, holds roughly $1 billion in Ambani's retail venture, and US tech giants Google and Meta have taken stakes in his digital arm.

Ambani and his wife Nita attended Trump's inauguration in January and an intimate candlelit dinner the night before. The pattern is familiar: Ambani maintains close ties with the Trump family — Ivanka Trump attended his son Anant's pre-wedding gala in Jamnagar in March 2024 — and his business interests span energy, tech, and retail across the US and the Gulf. The Doha dinner was less about dealmaking and more about reinforcing relationships that underpin a $125 billion enterprise.