Trump announces $142bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia
The agreement, worth nearly $142 billion (£107 billion), includes providing Saudi Arabia with 'state-of-the-art war fighting equipment and services from over a dozen US defence firms', the White House said.
Co-signed by Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and the country's de facto ruler, the deal is also expected to include Saudi investments in American artificial intelligence companies and energy production.
The US president is in Riyadh for the first leg of his three-nation visit to the Middle East this week.
Mr Trump is expected to meet with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the Syrian president, in the kingdom on Wednesday after announcing he will remove all US sanctions on Damascus, which were imposed on the government of ousted leader Bashar Assad.
In the first speech of his visit at the Saudi-US Investment Forum, Mr Trump hailed the transformation of cities across the Middle East, saying that 'ancient conflicts' should be left as a relic of the past.
'The biggest and most destructive of these forces is the regime in Iran, which has caused unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen and beyond,' said Mr Trump.
'There could be no sharper contrast with the path you have pursued on the Arabian Peninsula than the disaster unfolding right across in the Gulf of Iran.'
The pomp and ceremony began in Riyadh before Mr Trump even landed with the Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s providing an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom's capital — a rare occurrence.
When on the ground, he was greeted by the Crown Prince before the pair retreated to a grand hall, where Mr Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun belts.
Saudi officials arranged for a fully operational mobile McDonald's unit to be set up near the Saudi royal court to accompany Mr Trump during his state visit. The president is known for his love of the fast food outlet.
'I really believe we like each other a lot,' Mr Trump said later during a brief appearance with the crown prince at the start of a bilateral meeting.
The pair then signed more than a dozen agreements to increase cooperation between their governments' militaries, justice departments and cultural institutions.
Additional economic agreements were expected to be inked later at the US-Saudi investment conference.
As he greeted business titans with Mr Trump by his side, the Crown Prince was animated and smiling.
It was a stark contrast to his awkward fist bump he shared with Joe Biden, who looked to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with the prince during a 2022 visit to the kingdom.
Mr Trump's four-day tour will also see him meet leaders in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all of whom have cash to invest in the US.
The scale of investment attracted some of the United States's biggest business leaders, including tech billionaire Elon Musk and Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI.
Mr Musk, who has taken a step back from the administration, said the kingdom had approved Starlink for maritime and aviation use in the Gulf state.
Speaking at the Saudi-US Investment Forum, Mr Musk said: 'I'd like to thank Saudi Arabia for approving Starlink for maritime and aviation.'
During his speech, Mr Trump continued: 'I want to make a deal with Iran. If I can make a deal with Iran, I'll be very happy, if we're going to make your region and the world a safer place.
'But if Iran's leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbours, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure (and) drive Iranian oil exports to zero like I did before.'
Mr Trump also warned that this 'is an offer that will not last forever,' saying that 'the time is right now for them to choose'.
'We really want them to be a successful country. We want them to be a wonderful, safe, great country. But they cannot have a nuclear weapon,' he said, as applause rippled across the room.
The latest entreaty to Tehran comes days after Mr Trump dispatched his special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian officials for a fourth round of talks aimed at persuading Iran to abandon its nuclear program.
The three countries on Trump's itinerary — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are places where the Trump Organisation, run by Trump's two oldest sons, is developing major real estate projects.
They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.
Mr Trump is trying to demonstrate that his transactional strategy for international politics is paying dividends as he faces criticism from Democrats who say his global tariff war is isolating the US from allies.
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