US secures $600bn KSA investment pledge

RIYADH: US President Donald Trump secured a significant $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia during his Gulf tour, with the kingdom promising to invest in the United States. Trump expressed his hope that Saudi Arabia would soon normalise relations with Israel, but added a relaxed tone, saying “you’ll do it in your own time”.

Trump punched the air as he emerged from Air Force One to be greeted by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who later signed an agreement with the president in Riyadh on energy, defence, mining and other areas. Trump reminisced with the 39-year-old crown prince over their first meeting, saying he was “so impressed with this young guy who was very wise beyond his years”.

The US leader will head later in the week to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, fellow oil-rich Arab monarchies with long-standing ties to the United States -- and to Trump.

The US agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion, according to a White House fact sheet that called it “the largest defense cooperation agreement” Washington has ever done. The agreement covers deals with more than a dozen US defence companies in areas including air and missile defence, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, the fact sheet said.

“Today we hope for investment opportunities worth $600 billion, including deals worth $300 billion that were signed during this forum,” the Saudi crown prince said in a speech during a US-Saudi Investment Forum session held in Riyadh on the occasion of Trump’s visit. “We will work in the coming months on the second phase to complete deals and raise it to $1 trillion,” he said. “We have the biggest business leaders in the world here today and they’re going to walk away with a lot of cheques,” Trump told the prince. For “the United States, it’s probably two million jobs that we’re talking about,” Trump said.

The US and Saudi Arabia had discussed Riyadh’s potential purchase of Lockheed F-35 jets, two sources briefed on discussions told Reuters, referring to a military aircraft that the kingdom is long thought to have been interested in. It was not immediately clear whether those aircraft were covered in the deal announced on Tuesday.

The US President told the investment forum he wants to offer Iran a new and better path toward a more helpful future. If no new nuclear deal is reached, he said, Tehran will face maximum pressure. US and Iranian negotiators met in Oman at the weekend to discuss a potential deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme. Trump has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.

Trump announced that the US will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria. Trump said he was acting on a request to scrap the sanctions by Prince Mohammed bin Salman. “Oh what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said, drawing laughs from the audience. He said the sanctions had served an important function but that it was now time for the country to move forward. The United States declared Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, added sanctions in 2004 and imposed further sanctions after the civil war broke out in 2011.

Trump, who was accompanied by US business leaders including billionaire Elon Musk, will go on from Riyadh to Qatar on Wednesday and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. He has not scheduled a stop in Israel, a decision that has raised questions about where the close ally stands in Washington’s priorities, and the focus of the trip is on investment rather than security matters in the Middle East. “While energy remains a cornerstone of our relationship, the investments and business opportunities in the kingdom have expanded and multiplied many, many times over,” Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih told the investment forum. “As a result ... when Saudis and Americans join forces very good things happen, more often than not great things happen when those joint ventures happen,” he said before Trump’s arrival.