The White House announced a huge arms deal with Saudi Arabia on Saturday as President Donald Trump took his first steps on the world stage, looking to leave mounting troubles behind at home.
The $110 billion deal for Saudi purchases of US defence equipment and services came at the start of an eight-day foreign tour that will also take Mr Trump to Jerusalem, the Vatican and meetings with leaders in Europe.
Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said deals worth in excess of $380 billion were signed during Mr Trump’s visit.“That was a tremendous day. Tremendous investments in the United States,” Mr Trump said at talks with Saudi King Salman. “Hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the US and jobs, jobs, jobs.”
The US President was given a warm welcome in the oil-rich kingdom — a mood in sharp contrast to Washington where pressure is building after fresh claims over his team’s alleged links to Moscow.
The President and First Lady Melania Trump were greeted by King Salman as they disembarked at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. White House spokesman Sean Spicer hailed the defence agreement as the “largest single arms deal in US history”.
“This package of defence equipment and services support the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of Iranian threats,” a White House official said.
Softer tone on Islam
Mr Trump will use his first visit to the Middle East to call for unity in the fight against radicalism in the Muslim world, casting the challenge as a “battle between good and evil” and urging Arab leaders to “drive out the terrorists from your places of worship,” according to a draft of the speech obtained by The Associated Press.
Abandoning some of the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric of his presidential campaign, the draft of the speech, slated to be delivered in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, envisions new partnerships with America’s traditional allies in the Middle East. It notably refrains from mentioning democracy and human rights — topics Arab leaders often view as US moralising —in favor of the more limited goals of peace and stability. “We are not here to lecture — to tell other peoples how to live. We are here instead to offer partnership in building a better future for us all,” the document said.
