Trump announces $142bn arms deal with Saudi Arabia
The US has signed the largest arms deal in history with Saudi Arabia which Donald Trump said will make the relationship between the two countries 'more powerful than ever before'.
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Donald Trump receives support from huge sporting ally over blistering Elon Musk feud
Donald Trump has received a welcome message of support from one his longstanding friends in the world of sport after his friendship with Elon Musk spectacularly exploded this week. Musk torched his relationship with the president in full view of the world on Thursday afternoon, claiming on X that Trump is named 'in the Epstein files' before saying he should be impeached and that his tariff policy will send the United States into recession.
BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
Business Matters Has a phone call led to the end of the tariff war?
The US and China have announced their delegations will meet in London to talk trade on Monday... so has a phone call between President Donald Trump and President Xi Jin Ping signalled an end to the tariff war between the World's biggest two economies? Andrew Peach discusses whether Elon Musk's time at the White House achieved anything for the tech sector that will survive his rift with President Trump. Elsewhere, we are on the road in China with a truck but no driver, and the fashion statement that's set to go up for auction in Paris. Global business news, with live guests and contributions from Asia and the USA.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
The Trump and Musk spat is turning them both into billion-dollar losers in every way
The boys are going at it. Like two heavies in the playground, the once richest man on Earth and one who thinks he is the most powerful are locked in a scrap. It's a bloke thing. Not long ago, the former bros used to spark off each other, rib each other while jointly belittling everyone else. Now the jocks, Elon Musk and Donald Trump, are grappling and so closely entwined were they and the organisations they lead, there can be no winner. It's possible that peace may prevail, but for how long? They've repeatedly raised the ante, which in male lore means backing down and letting bygones be bygones will be difficult. The fallout will hit them both. Trump says that Musk and his companies receive 'billions and billions of dollars' in government subsidies and contracts. He could cut them. 'I was always surprised that Biden didn't do it,' Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. One estimate puts the total that Musk's two main businesses, SpaceX and Tesla, receive in public benefits at $38bn (£28bn). SpaceX president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, has said its tally alone is $22bn. The exact combined figure may never be known because many of the deals between Musk's firms and Washington are classified. For his part, Musk is the heaviest donor to the Republicans, giving $200m to the GOP. There was more. Musk said he would support Maga candidates in local primaries, to the tune of $10m a pop, against sitting Republicans, should they dare to oppose Trump. Meanwhile, Musk's space rockets fly Nasa astronauts to the orbiting shuttle – without that service, the Americans would have to do the diplomatically unthinkable and seek the wholesale assistance of Russia and its Soyuz vehicles. It's likely the love-in was always destined to fail. Trump demands complete adulation, any dissenters are quickly shown the door. Musk, for all his admiration of the president, disagreed with him profoundly on a number of key issues. In order for his companies to stay ahead and to keep reinventing and innovating, Musk must attract the best brains. Whatever Trump alleges, they do not all exist in America, Musk needs to draw talent from overseas. That ran up against Trump's anti-immigration policy. Musk is a renewable energy evangelist, he made his name with the high-performance Tesla electric car. Trump is anything but, clinging to the belief that fossil fuels still rule and have a future. Likewise, Musk's products rely on imported parts and materials. Trump has kiboshed global supply lines and delivered large-scale uncertainty with his adherence to new tariffs. Musk's position on these was well known. He said so, and Trump tolerated him. After all, he was doing the White House 's bidding on Doge, slashing perceived governmental waste. Trump was happy for him to take the rap, to be the fall guy or poster boy, depending on how it was viewed. Musk's Maga popularity may have soared, but among his investors and consumers, it plummeted. Both men are characterised by a stubborn refusal to climb down and a belief in their own might. Musk pressed on, regardless. They also speak their minds, as they find, again, convinced of their own brilliance. There was so much that Trump was prepared to forgive, but it was when Musk openly criticised Trump's central tax bill that the gloves finally came off. It is a priority of Trump's second term, and the measure requires congressional Republican backing to get through. By hailing it a 'disgusting abomination', Musk was sowing doubt among possible GOP waverers, and that simply would not do. The new distance between them was noticed, and the rot set in. Musk was exiting the building. The president exhibited his usual pettiness, so what sent Musk ballistic was when an ally had his nomination to run Nasa withdrawn. That pal, Jared Isaacman, came out and said he was a victim of revenge – his nomination was revoked on the very day that the 'first buddy' was saying his White House goodbyes. Far from damping down the speculation as to why his appointment was suddenly off, Isaacman raised it. 'I mean, people can draw their own conclusions, but I think the directions people are going in seems to check out to me,' he said. Isaacman was not any other candidate – the billionaire had been a close collaborator with Musk ever since he led the first chartered passenger flight on SpaceX in 2021. Musk, understandably, was riled. Now it was personal. Since then, we've been treated to the spectacle of gladiatorial combat, albeit resorting to childish insults as weapons. But each man has plenty to lose. Trump is a brooder; he does not forget easily, and Musk may have overstepped a mark by alerting the world's media and social media to something that might or might not be contained in confidential files regarding Epstein and Trump. That may just prove unforgivable. Certainly, in the absence of an explanation, the accusation could return to haunt Trump. There may be one. It could be trivial and of little consequence. Musk may merely have been having fun, being provocative, and he hasn't presented anything to substantiate the allegation. But until we know, we cannot be sure, and the gossip will continue. Meanwhile, Trump's longtime ally Steve Bannon suggested that the president 'should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act and seize SpaceX'. And the President himself was said to be planning on dispensing with all traces of Elon Musk, including the Tesla he bought at full price in March. It's perverse that they should be reduced to this. But two large, bristling personalities, possessors of machismo in abundance, were probably always going to find sharing the same small classroom an enormous challenge. Despite deploying all the cynical disregarding and showboating they could muster, it was insurmountable and could come at an enormous cost.
