Photo caption: US President Donald Trump. Photo: State House
U.S. President Donald Trump had arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday for his first multi-day foreign trip since he returned to the White House earlier this year.
Trump was received at King Khalid International Airport by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, seen as Saudi Arabia’s de-facto ruler.
Riyadh is the first leg of Trump’s Gulf tour, ahead of visits to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The trip s expected to focus on economic deals, the war in Gaza and Iran’s nuclear programme.
Trump is scheduled to attend a Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum on Tuesday before a summit with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, and Bahrain on Wednesday.
His talks in Riyadh could lead to an anticipated agreement on civilian nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia.
The kingdom has already announced it will invest 600 billion dollars in the United States in the coming years.
Trump said he will be asking the crown prince to increase that to around one trillion dollars.
Saudi Arabia was the destination for Trump’s first trip abroad as president in 2017 during his first term in office, after the oil-rich country announced 450 billion dollars in investments in the U.S.
The stop in Riyadh marked Trump’s first official trip abroad since taking office again in January, although he did made a short visit to Rome last month for Pope Francis’ funeral.
Trump’s visit to Doha this week could be overshadowed by reports that he is set to accept a luxury Boeing aircraft as a gift from Qatar’s royal family.
The president has also suggested he could fly to Turkey on Thursday to join a possible meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky.
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