According to the White House, Donald Trump and heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia signed an arms package worth nearly $122 billion in Riyadh. Trump's administration has designated the package as "the largest defence cooperation agreement" in history. It includes contracts with over a twelve U.S. arms companies from various sectors, including air and rocket defense.
"Today's agreements are historical and transformative for both countries and are the beginning of a fresh golden era of partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia" – A message from the White House. The agreements besides include cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior of Saudi Arabia and the FBI.
Early on Tuesday, Trump took part in a VIP lunch at the grand royal court of Saudi Arabia along with another excellent guests, including Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, who heads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Musk, who had previously said, that it will importantly shorten the time spent on DOGE since May, inactive seems to be an crucial figure in Trump's administration. The ceremony was besides attended by another leading representatives of American business, including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink. Trump is expected to attend dinner with the unquestionable ruler of Saudi Arabia, the heir to the throne, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Dent, an older academic at the Think Tank The Washington Institute for close East Policy, said TIME that “there is besides possible for a civil-nuclear agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia, which has long been associated with the anticipation of normalising Saudi-Israeli relations, but has late been separated”.
Experts, including Dent, praise these possible agreements as a contribution to the implementation of Saudi Arabia's plans to diversify the economy so as to decision distant from oil, as part of the 2030 imagination Strategy. While in Saudi Arabia, Trump is expected to participate in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Diplomatic issues will be discussed there, including work to end Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, as well as discussions on a possible atomic agreement with Iran.
Later this week Trump will visit Qatar and the United arabian Emirates to discuss another diplomatic and investment agreements. This week the president He said he was planning accept a luxury jet as a gift from Qatar, which raises legal and constitutional concerns. Trump's first abroad journey in his erstwhile word took place in the mediate East. It was expected that the same would happen now that he returned to the White House. But Trump went abroad early last period to attend the ceremony of Pope Francis.
In May 2017, Trump participated at the Arab-Islam-America Summit in Riyadh, where regional leaders met to discuss safety and terrorism issues. Investments between the US and Saudi Arabia were the key consequence of the visit, which can be expected after the journey this week.
