Trump's week in review: ‘De-banking' banned; new census ordered; peace deal signed

5. Trump announces peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Trump hosted Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the White House for a peace signing ceremony on Friday. Trump commented on the magnitude of the conflict between the two countries by stating, "It's a long time, 35 years they fought, and now they're friends and they're going to be friends for a long time."

Armenia, which is believed to be the first Christian nation, dating back to 301 A.D., has agreed to allow a transit corridor through its territory. The corridor will be named the "Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity."

The U.S. will develop the route, connecting Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan exclave, which are separated by a 20-mile-wide patch of Armenian territory. The corridor will operate under Armenian law. 

The two countries have conflicted with one another dating back to the 1980s when the mostly ethnic-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh, broke away from Muslim-majority Azerbaijan with the support of Armenia. 

Religious freedom advocates have raised concerns about the displacement of over 120,000 Armenians from their ancestral homeland of Artsakh during Azerbaijan's 2023 offensive to recapture Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Trump said the two countries are "committing to stop all fighting forever" and to taking steps to "open up commerce, travel and diplomatic relations and respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

"The U.S. is signing a bilateral agreement with both countries to expand cooperation in energy trade and technology, including artificial intelligence," he said. 

In a statement posted to Truth Social Thursday, Trump credited the peace agreement to the fact that his administration "has been engaged with both sides for quite some time." He predicted that trade agreements between the U.S. and the two nations would "fully unlock the potential of the South Caucasus Region."