Trump and Saudi prince sign agreements as US leader begins Middle East tour

Donald Trump has signed a host of economic and bilateral co-operation agreements in Saudi Arabia as he kicked off a four-day Middle East trip with a focus on dealmaking with a key regional ally.

The US president’s visit came against a backdrop of shared concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme and the war in Gaza.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, warmly greeted Mr Trump as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital.

The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at Riyadh airport, where Mr Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun belts.

“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Mr Trump said later during a brief appearance with the crown prince at the start of a bilateral meeting.

They later signed more than a dozen agreements to increase co-operation between their governments’ militaries, justice departments and cultural institutions.

Additional economic agreements were expected to be sealed later at a US-Saudi investment conference convened for the occasion.

Prince Mohammed has already committed to 600 billion dollars (£450 billion) in new Saudi investment in the US, but Mr Trump teased a trillion dollars (£750 million) would be even better.

The pomp began before Mr Trump even landed, as Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital — an exceptionally rare sight.

Mr Trump and Prince Mohammed also took part in a formal greeting and lunch at the Royal Court at Al Yamamah Palace, gathering with guests and aides in an ornate room with blue and gold accents and massive crystal chandeliers.

As he greeted business leaders with Mr Trump by his side, Prince Mohammed was animated and smiling.

It was a stark contrast to his awkward fist bump with then-president Joe Biden, who looked to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with the prince during a 2022 visit to the kingdom.

Mr Biden had visited as he tried to alleviate soaring prices at the pump for motorists at home and around the globe. At the time, Prince Mohammed’s reputation had been badly damaged by a US intelligence determination that found he had ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

But that dark moment appeared to be a distant memory for the prince as he rubbed elbows with high-profile business executives — including Blackstone Group chief executive Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock boss Larry Fink and Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk — in front of the cameras and with Mr Trump by his side.

Later, the crown prince will fete Mr Trump with an intimate state dinner at Ad-Diriyah, a Unesco heritage site which is the birthplace of the first Saudi state and the site of a major development project championed by the crown prince.

Saudi Arabia and fellow Opec+ nations have already helped their cause with Mr Trump early in his second term by stepping up oil production.

He sees cheap energy as a key component to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans. The Republican president has also made the case that lower oil prices will hasten an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Saudi Arabia and the next two destinations on his Middle East trip – Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are places where the Trump Organisation, run by Mr Trump’s two oldest sons, is developing major property projects. They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.

He is trying to demonstrate that his transactional strategy for international politics is paying dividends as he faces criticism from Democrats who say his global tariff war and approach to Russia’s war on Ukraine are isolating the US from allies.

He is expected to announce deals with the three wealthy countries that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy co-operation and perhaps new arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The administration this month announced initial approval to sell 3.5 billion dollars (£2.6 billion) of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia’s fighter jets.