On the first day of his Middle East trip, President Donald Trump sought to project himself as a consummate dealmaker and diplomat on the world stage.
He outlined a lofty vision for peace and prosperity in the region, announced investment deals, and said the US would lift sanctions on Syria — a major change in foreign policy.
Here are the other highlights:
Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended a lunch with executives from some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Amazon, OpenAI, Uber, Northrop Grumman, Palantir, Coca-Cola, Nvidia and Boeing, demonstrating the lengths that America’s tech executives have gone to curry favor with the president.
The US signed memoranda of understanding, letters of intent, and other agreements with Saudi Arabia, including on military cooperation. The agreements included cooperation between customs authorities, “medical research related to infectious diseases,” “judicial cooperation,” and a partnership between the Saudi Ministry of Interior and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Trump secured a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the US, including a record-breaking defense partnership valued at nearly $142 billion.
The deal includes a $20 billion pledge from Saudi data infrastructure leader DataVolt to develop AI data centers and energy infrastructure throughout the US. Tech giants such as Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber will jointly invest $80 billion alongside Saudi partners to drive innovation in emerging technologies across both nations.
Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords — US-brokered agreements with the UAE, Bahrain and Israel during his first term — but indicated that Riyadh would only normalize relations with Israel when it was ready.
He also pressured Iran to reach a nuclear deal with the US. Trump officials have spent weeks in high-stakes nuclear talks between Iran and the US.
The trip comes as the Trump family’s Middle East business ties have more than tripled since his first term.
