Trump and the Saudi crown prince signed an agreement covering energy, defence, mining and other areas. The US president has sought to strengthen relations with the Saudis to improve regional ties with Israel and act as a bulwark against Iran.
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The agreement covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defence companies in areas including air and missile defence, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, the fact sheet said. The Saudi prince said the deal included investment opportunities worth $US600 billion, including deals worth $300 billion that were signed during Trump’s visit.
Trump speaks at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh.Credit: AP
“We will work in the coming months on the second phase to complete deals and raise it to $US1 trillion ($1.5 trillion),” he said.
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for US arms.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said during a meeting with the crown prince.
The US and Saudi Arabia had discussed Riyadh’s potential purchase of Lockheed F-35 jets, two sources briefed on discussions told Reuters, referring to a military aircraft that the kingdom is long thought to have been interested in. It was not immediately clear whether those aircraft were covered in the deal announced on Tuesday.
Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport Royal Terminal in Riyadh.Credit: AP
Trump arrived in Riyadh – the first stop in his four-day Middle East tour – with a raised fist as he got off Air Force One, which had been escorted in by Saudi F-15 fighters.
The US president, who was accompanied by US business leaders including billionaire Elon Musk, will go on from Riyadh to Qatar on Wednesday and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
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He has not scheduled a stop in Israel, a decision that has raised questions about where the close ally stands in Washington’s priorities, and the focus of the trip is on investment rather than security matters in the Middle East.
“While energy remains a cornerstone of our relationship, the investments and business opportunities in the kingdom have expanded and multiplied many, many times over,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said.
Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provide an honorary escort for Air Force One.Credit: AP
“As a result … when Saudis and Americans join forces very good things happen, more often than not great things happen when those joint ventures happen,” he said before Trump’s arrival.
Trump told the investment forum – which The Washington Post described as a campaign-style speech – that relations with Saudi Arabia would be even stronger.
He was shown speaking with Riyadh’s sovereign wealth fund governor Yaser al-Rumayyan, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, and Falih as he toured a hall that showed off models for the kingdom’s flashy, multi-billion-dollar development projects.
Trump called the Saudi crown prince a friend and said they had a good relationship, according to a pool report from The Wall Street Journal, adding that Saudi investment would help create jobs in the US.
Elon Musk at the Saudi Royal Court on Tuesday.Credit: Getty Images
Business leaders at the investment forum included Larry Fink, the CEO of asset management firm BlackRock; Stephen A. Schwartzman, CEO of asset manager Blackstone; and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Musk chatted briefly with both Trump and the crown prince – who is otherwise known as MbS – during a palace reception for the US president. Top US businessmen including Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined Trump for a lunch with MbS.
Trump also told the investment forum that he would never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, but wanted to offer a new and better path toward a more helpful future. If no new nuclear deal is reached, he said, Tehran will face maximum pressure.
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week that he expected progress imminently on expanding accords brokered by Trump in his 2017-21 first term under which Arab states including the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco recognised Israel.
Trump and MbS speak during a meeting at the Royal Palace.Credit: AP
Trump said it was his “fervent hope” that Saudi Arabia would soon sign its own normalisation agreement with Israel, adding, “But you’ll do it in your own time”.
Still, Netanyahu’s opposition to a permanent stop to the war in Gaza or to the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress on similar talks with the Saudis unlikely, sources told Reuters.
Reuters
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