US President Donald Trump has said the US has “no stronger partner” than Saudi Arabia during his first major foreign trip – a whirlwind visit of Gulf countries mainly focused on shoring up investment.
Day one of the trip saw the two sides announce a $142bn (£107bn) arms deal, as well as a raft of other investments that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said could eventually be worth $1tn.
Trump also made Saudi Arabia the first foreign stop during his first term, in 2017. The rest of his gulf tour will include stops in Qatar and the UAE.
Speaking for nearly an hour in Riyadh, Trump also announced that the US would be lifting sanctions on Syria in order to give the country “a chance at greatness”.
In his remarks at a US-Saudi investment forum, Trump lauded the US-Saudi relationship as “more powerful than ever before” and praised his domestic agenda – particularly as it pertains to the economy and foreign investment.
“From the moment we started we’ve seen wealth that has poured – and is pouring – into America,” he said.
The visit comes as Trump continues to try woo foreign investors to the US to boost the US economy, a key focus of his administration in the nearly four months of his second term.
“I like him too much,” Trump said of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de-facto ruler, Mohammed bin Salman. “That’s why we give so much.”
Underscoring his commitment to deal-making, Trump was joined by billionaire ally Elon Musk and other business leaders at a lavish lunch.
During his address, Trump announced he was lifting sanctions on Syria to “give them a chance at greatness” and said it was his “dream” to have Saudi Arabia join the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered in his first administration that saw relations between Israel and some Gulf countries normalised for the first time.
As for other regional issues – Trump only briefly addressed the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. He told those in attendance that people in Gaza deserved a “better future” which had been held back by Hamas choosing “to kidnap, torture and target” for “political ends” – a reference to the 7 October attack on Israel.
The friendly tone of the visit stands in stark contrast to the often-tense relationship between the Saudis and Biden, who in 2023 called on the US to “reassess” its relationship with the kingdom.
As a candidate successfully campaigning against Trump in 2020, Biden had also vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” in response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based journalist killed in Istanbul in 2018.
In 2021, he also stopped sending US offensive weapons to the Saudis, although they resumed last year.
At the time, Biden also said that there was “very little redeeming value” in the Saudi government – although the following year he visited the kingdom on a state visit.
From Saudi Arabia, Trump will head to both Qatar and the UAE, which has already committed to investing $1.4tn in the US over the next decade.