President Trump is set to deliver remarks Tuesday at a U.S.-Saudi investment summit and will sign agreements for the Pentagon, Justice Department, FBI and other agencies to cooperate with their Saudi Arabian counterparts.
Mr. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced multiple economic and defense agreements, an indication of Mr. Trump’s intent to deepen U.S.-Saudi ties, despite long-held concerns from State Department reports and human rights groups about its restriction of civil liberties and political rights.
Specifically, the president and crown prince signed agreements for judicial cooperation between the Ministry of Justice in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. Department of Justice, coordination between the Pentagon and Saudi Ministry of Defense for modernization and development of the capabilities of the Saudi armed forces; and an international partnership program between the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, although the White House has yet to release further details.
The president arrived in Saudi Arabia earlier Tuesday, the first stop on a four-day trip to the Middle East for Mr. Trump. The trip is his first of his second term. The president also visited Saudi Arabia before any other nation during his first term in the White House — bucking the tradition for presidents to make their first foreign trip to the United Kingdom, one of the United States’ strongest allies.
After Air Force One was escorted into landing by Saudi fighter jets, Mr. Trump was greeted on the tarmac at the airport in Riyadh by the kingdom’s de facto ruler, the crown prince. After a coffee ceremony, Trump then went to the Royal Court, where he and bin Salman descended a lavender carpet as trumpets sounded to mark the president’s arrival.
Following the arrival ceremony, the president attended a delegation meeting and bilateral meeting.
Mr. Trump complimented the Crown Prince in remarks during their bilateral meeting, calling him “wise beyond his years.” The president also said that the Saudi prince is considering a purchase of $600 billion of military equipment but joked that it could be $1 trillion.
The two leaders also participated in a business lunch with notable CEOs including Elon Musk, Larry Fink, and Stephen Schwarzman. Mr. Trump said the business leaders are expected to walk away from the visit “with a lot of checks.”
Saudi Arabia is of key diplomatic importance to the Trump White House, especially amid ongoing efforts to negotiate a deal with Iran over its nuclear program, and with the Israel-Hamas war still raging in Gaza. The president and the crown prince held private talks earlier Tuesday which were expected to span a wide range of topics, from Iran’s nuclear program to the war in Gaza and keeping oil prices in check.
But the visit also focused on business, as the president has looked to strengthen ties with the Middle East partner. And Joining Mr. Trump at the investment summit were expected to be some high-profile business leaders, including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Palantir’s Alex Karp, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, BlackRock’s Larry Fink, Franklin Templeton Investments’s Jenny Johnson, Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, BDT & MSD Partners’ Dina Powell McCormick and Blackstone’s Steve Schwarzman, according to multiple sources familiar with the event.
Later this week, Mr. Trump will travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar has offered to donate a jumbo jet donated by the royal family of Qatar for Mr. Trump’s exclusive use as a presidential plane.
Mr. Trump has defended accepting the gift of the plane, saying Monday “I could be a stupid person and say, oh no, we don’t want a free plane.”
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Jennifer Jacobs
contributed to this report.
