Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia to kickstart Middle East trip

What you need to know

• Middle East trip: President Donald Trump is on the first major international trip of his second term as he works to shore up relations with a trio of key allies and prove his might as a dealmaker on the world stage.

• On the agenda: Today, Trump is expected to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh and speak at a US-Saudi investment forum, where Elon Musk is also listed as a speaker. Later this week, Trump will travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

• Weapons sale: The US announced a weapons sale of over $1.4 billion to the UAE ahead of Trump’s trip. A slew of deals between the two countries is expected to be announced during his visit, including investments in AI, chips, manufacturing and energy. Trump may also announce a major arms sale to Saudi Arabia.

Trump receives royal Saudi welcome from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

US President Donald Trump received a royal Saudi welcome Tuesday as he arrived in the capital, Riyadh, descending Air Force One on purple-carpeted steps to a greeting from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.Trump and the crown prince greeted each other warmly and walked the tarmac together, also briefly speaking to top Saudi officials before entering the airport, where they were seated in plush purple chairs with gold trim underneath portraits of Saudi royal family members.They were joined by top US officials — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright — as well as Saudi officials, who each sat in purple chairs alongside.

Prince bin Salman has emerged as a key Trump ally who has been involved in US efforts to mediate an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine. He has worked to cultivate close ties to Trump, starting in the president’s first term, and was among the first world leaders to congratulate him after his swearing-in in January.Choosing Riyadh as the first stop on his first major international trip of his second term underscores how Trump is seeking to prioritize and empower the Arab state from its isolation following the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

The visit by trump is a chance for Saudi Arabia to “showcase what it has to offer” expert says.

In the case of the middle kingdom, US President Donald Trump’s visit comes at a time the kingdom wants to show to the world what it has to offer in the Middle East as things are moving so fast in the Middle East, a regional expert has said.

“It’ll be a defining moment and a real platform to demonstrate what Saudi is all about,” Dina Esfandiary, the Middle East lead for Bloomberg Economics, said Tuesday to CNN’s Becky Anderson. The Trump visit will also be an opportunity for Riyadh to “set some red lines on what it wants the US to do in the region and with the conflicts in the region,” she said, adding that the today’s Middle East is not the same one visited by Trump during his first term.The Saudi has been interacting with the enemy Iran, and it does not want to get dragged into any military skirmishes between Tehran, the US and Israel.The Saudis, in their turn, are “supportive of any kind of de-escalation talks,” Esfandiary.The American president Trump is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He will also further tour Doha, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates this week. The trip mirrors the first foreign trip made by Trump as the president in 2017.