Saudi Arabia on Tuesday promised billions of dollars in deals with the United States, from defence to artificial intelligence, as it threw a lavish welcome for President Donald Trump on the first state visit of his second term.
The Saudis escorted Air Force One into the kingdom with fighter jets before bringing out long-stretching guards of honour and sending flag-waving cavalry to accompany Trump’s motorcade to the palace.
Under imposing chandeliers, Trump welcomed a promise by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for $600 billion in investment and quipped that it should be $1 trillion.
“We have the biggest business leaders in the world here today and they’re going to walk away with a lot of cheques,” Trump told the prince.
For “the United States, it’s probably two million jobs that we’re talking about,” Trump said.
The White House said that Saudi Arabia would buy nearly $142 billion in weapons in what it described as the largest-ever weapons deal, although Trump in his first term trumpeted a larger, longer-term figure.
The White House said that Saudi company DataVolt will invest $20 billion in artificial intelligence-related sites in the United States, while tech firms including Google will invest in both countries — welcome news for Saudi Arabia, which has long faced restrictions in US advanced technology.
With cameras rolling, a lengthy procession of Saudi royalty and business figures waited their turn to shake hands with Trump and the crown prince, including Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and close adviser to Trump, who made a rare appearance in a suit.
The US leader will head later in the week to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, fellow oil-rich Arab monarchies with long-standing ties to the United States — and to Trump.
In choosing the Gulf for his first major tour, the 78-year-old billionaire is again bypassing traditional presidential stops among Western allies, some of which have been unnerved by his norms-shattering diplomacy.
Eight years ago, Trump also chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas trip — when he posed with a glowing orb and participated in a sword dance.
Trump reminisced with the 39-year-old crown prince over their first meeting, saying he was “so impressed with this young guy who was very wise beyond his years.”
“His hosts will be generous and hospitable. They’ll be keen to make deals. They’ll flatter him and not criticise him. And they’ll treat his family members as past and future business partners,” he said.
According to a Saudi official close to the defence ministry, Riyadh will push to secure the latest US F-35 fighter jets along with state-of-the-art air defence systems worth billions of dollars.
Not to be outdone, Qatar has offered a luxury Boeing aircraft for Trump to refurbish as Air Force One and then keep after he leaves the White House.
Trump’s Democratic rivals have called the gift blatant corruption. Trump has hit back that it was “very public and transparent” and said: “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.”
An ultimate prize, pushed both by Trump and Biden, has been to persuade Saudi Arabia, home of Islam’s holiest sites, to take the landmark step of recognising Israel.
But Israel normalisation is not likely to feature high on the agenda of Trump’s trip, with Riyadh insisting a Palestinian state must be established first.
Israel has cut off all food and other supplies to Gaza for more than two months as it pursues a new offensive against Hamas militants.
The United States, which has quietly been frustrated with its ally, negotiated directly with Hamas to secure the release of a hostage with US citizenship, Edan Alexander, to whom Trump spoke by telephone on Tuesday.
Tensions over Iran will likely feature prominently in the talks in the Gulf, after four rounds of nuclear talks between the Trump administration and Tehran.
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