U.S. President Donald Trump signed a host of economic and bilateral cooperation agreements in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as he kicked off a four-day Middle East trip with a focus on deal making with a key Mideast ally while shared concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and the war in Gaza dragged on in the background.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital.
The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun belts.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said later during a brief appearance with the crown prince at the start of a bilateral meeting.
They later signed more than a dozen agreements to increase cooperation between their governments’ militaries, justice departments and cultural institutions.
Additional economic agreements were expected to be inked later Tuesday in the U.S.-Saudi investment conference convened for the occasion.
Prince Mohammed has already committed to some $600 billion in new Saudi investment in the U.S., but Trump teased that $1 trillion would be even better.
