RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. would cease sanctions against war-torn Syria “to give them a chance at greatness,” as he seeks to strengthen ties to Saudi Arabia and others.
“Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said as Mohammed bin Salman, seated in the front row, crossed his arms over his chest in an expression of gratitude.
“It’s their time to shine,” Trump added. “Good luck, Syria. Show us something very special, like they’ve done, frankly, in Saudi Arabia, OK? They’re going to show us something special. Very good people.”
Trump will meet with Syria's new president in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, an announcement confirmed by the White House shortly before the president began speaking.
In his speech, Trump presented Middle Eastern leaders with a vision of a future steeped in prosperity, business deals and technological advances, which the president treated as an antidote to historic divisions.
His rhetoric stood in contrast to the words of former President Joe Biden, who deemed the kingdom “a pariah” before taking office. Biden struggled to regain diplomatic footing with Saudi leaders during his presidency after confronting bin Salman about the 2018 death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of the Saudi government. During Trump's first term, he maintained friendly relations with the Saudis despite international outrage over Khashoggi's death, which U.S. intelligence officials have said bin Salman approved.
Trump on Tuesday offered an image of rising regional powers steeped in homegrown economic self-development, while holding up his host as a model.
“I stood here envisioning a Middle East that would eradicate terrorism and extremism, rising as one of the world’s proudest, most prosperous and successful regions,” Trump declared to a gathering of the world’s business elite and Saudi leaders at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum. The event, which was held at King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, included members of his Cabinet and adviser Elon Musk, as well as executives from Palantir, Uber, Google, Amazon and more.
Addressing the crown prince directly, Trump asked, “Mohammed, do you sleep at night? Or are you up, restless, thinking, ‘How do I make it even better?’” Earlier, the two leaders signed a landmark $600 billion investment agreement, marking a high point of the day’s ceremonial events.
As Trump offered heavy flattery to his host, he also took aim at his predecessors in Washington, jabbing at listless leaders whom he called “the ones that don’t toss and turn,” and “that will never take you to the promised land.”
He said too many American presidents found themselves afflicted by the notion “that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins.” He rejected the idea that U.S. policy should judge foreign leaders’ morals, advocating instead for pragmatic cooperation to drive progress.
And Trump swiped at destructive forces in the region, citing Iran’s leadership as the most damaging of all, causing “unthinkable suffering in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq, Yemen and beyond” — even as his administration seeks to strike a deal with Iranian leaders over their nuclear programs.
Applause followed Trump's promise to withdraw sanctions on Syria. But in announcing his “fervent wish” that Saudi Arabia would “soon be joining the Abraham Accords" — the diplomatic agreements Trump's first administration made between Israel and several Arab nations — the president drew silence from the room.
“You’ll do it in your own time, and that’s what I want and that’s what you want,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has been an elusive target of Washington’s diplomatic ambitions to expand the accords, with Israel’s war in Gaza looming over Biden’s unsuccessful efforts to bring about the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The ongoing conflict with Hamas remains a sticking point for Saudi Arabia, which reaffirmed its support for a Palestinian state in recent months.
Trump showcased his transactional approach to diplomacy even before departing Washington by defending a proposed gift from Qatar of a luxury airplane. He described it as a “contribution” that the U.S. should accept, stating, “I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was, I thought it was a great gesture.”
It was not just Trump seeking opportunities for deals on his royal tour of the Middle East. American business leaders are also looking to broker ties with wealthy Saudi Arabian investors. One conference attendee characterized the mood as a hub of excitement and positive engagement.
This dynamic was on display during ceremonial events at the opulent Royal Court on Tuesday as the crown prince and Trump greeted, with handshakes and small talk, everyone from Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, and Sam Altman of OpenAI, to billionaire Blackrock co-founder Larry Fink and the leaders of bluechip companies like as Amazon and Coca Cola.
The executives were in Riyadh to pitch deep-pocketed Saudi investors as the kingdom promises to spend on technology, infrastructure and more. Financed through sovereign wealth, the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund offers a major kickstart for businesses expanding in the region. It was also an opportunity to engage with Trump directly as CEOs wrestle with the outcome of the president's sweeping tariffs.
Also in attendance was Musk —who, in addition to advising Trump on how to slash the federal government’s spending, runs Tesla, SpaceX and an AI company — along with his businessman brother, Kimbal, according to the event program.
During an earlier meeting with MBS, Trump emphasized the opportunity for the long line of American business leaders to walk away with a lot of checks. “I like visiting with you,” Trump added. “I really believe we like each other a lot.”
And he joked about how Saudi Arabia's promised investments weighed on the decision of which country to visit for his first multistate overseas trip. “$600 billion, knowing you, will be a trillion dollars,” he said, repeating his ask to the kingdom to increase its investment in the U.S. by rounding up a promised $600 billion.
Trump secured the $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S., including a multibillion-dollar defense partnership, the White House said in a statement. As part of the arrangement, the White House said, the Saudi Arabian company DataVolt plans to invest $20 billion in artificial intelligence data centers and other technology, while companies like Google, Salesforce, Uber and Oracle will invest $80 billion in projects across both countries. Shamekh IV Solutions, a Saudi Arabian health care firm, promised to invest $5.8 billion, including through a plant in Michigan, to launch a high-capacity IV fluid facility, the White House said.
The White House called the deal historic and said it ushers in “a new golden era of partnership.”
The Trump family has also expanded its business ventures across the Gulf region, building golf courses and luxury properties, and touting a $2 billion investment in its cryptocurrency by an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm. There was little in the way of crossover between the Trump family and its business on display — Omeed Malik, an investor and business partner of the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., greeted Trump and the crown prince.
Kushner, whose private equity firm received a $2 billion investment from a fund led by the Saudi crown prince, did not join Trump on the trip and has been largely out of the frame since the president’s return to office.
A former White House adviser, Kushner played a key role in helping broker Trump’s signature Abraham Accords during the president’s first term, and his close relationship with MBS is well known.
