Trump visits Riyadh in business mode

Riyadh. President Donald Trump secured a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to invest in the United States, after the oil power gave him a lavish welcome at the start of a tour of the Gulf states.

The US president was treated to an impressive escort of several Saudi F-15s as he approached Riyadh, at the start of a tour the White House called "historic" that will also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Trump raised his fist as he exited Air Force One before being greeted by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who later signed an agreement with the president that Saudi state television said covered energy, defense, mining, and other areas.

The United States has agreed to sell Saudi Arabia a package of arms worth nearly $142 billion, according to a White House fact sheet, which called it "the largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever made.

"We have the greatest business leaders in the world here today, and they're going to walk away with a bunch of checks," Trump told the prince.

In the case of the United States, "we're probably talking about two million jobs," he added.

The White House said Saudi Arabian company DataVolt will invest $20 billion in U.S.-based artificial intelligence companies, and that tech firms like Google will invest in both countries—a positive development for Saudi Arabia, which has long been subject to restrictions on advanced U.S. technology.

Trump, who is accompanied by a number of American business leaders, including billionaire Elon Musk, will continue 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 the close ally's place in Washington's priorities, and the focus of the trip is on investment rather than Middle East security issues.

Forum

During Trump's visit, Riyadh hosted a Saudi-US investment forum attended by, among others, Larry Fink, CEO of asset manager BlackRock, Stephen A. Schwartzman, CEO of Blackstone, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Musk chatted briefly with Trump and the crown prince during a palace reception for the US president. Trump also had lunch with MbS, leading US business leaders including Musk, head of Tesla and SpaceX, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.

In front of the cameras, a large entourage of Saudi royal and business personalities waited to shake Trump's hand.