The United States has announced military deals worth $110 billion with Saudi Arabia. President Donald Trump is at the start of an eight-day tour that will take him to Riyadh, Jerusalem, the Vatican and European capitals.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
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The $110-billion (around 100 billion euros) deal for Saudi purchases of US defense equipment and services was one of several deals announced during Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia.
The military sales deal is effective immediately, with another $350 billion set of deals to kick in over the next 10 years.
"This package of defense equipment and services support the long-term security of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the face of Iranian threats," a White House official said when announcing the deal.
Trump in Saudi Arabia - Alexandra von Nahmen reports from Riyadh
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"We now stand together to thwart our common enemies, to strengthen the bonds between us and to chart a path towards peace and prosperity for all," the leaders said in a joint declaration.
US conglomerate General Electric also announced it had signed agreements and memorandums of understanding worth $15 billion with the oil-rich kingdom.
Trump was kept away from reporters during a busy day of meetings and ceremonies, but late in the day he said the deals reached would lead to "tremendous investments" in the US. He said the deals will also create "jobs, jobs, jobs."
Changing geopolitics
Russia and Iran - allies with Syria against the US-Saudi Arabia axis in the region - this year signed a large arms deal. The US-Saudi deal comes amid talk of a possible reconfiguration of Middle East alliances, and possibly global ties.
For Riyadh, the visit is an opportunity to rebuild ties with a key ally, strained under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, who Sunni Arab Gulf states suspected of a tilt towards their Shiite regional rival Iran.
First lady Melania Trump chatted with Crown Prince Mohammed bin NayefImage: Getty Images/AFP/M. Ngan
No gaffes, so far
After a welcoming coffee ceremony, Trump and his entourage were brought to the royal court where the president was awarded the Collar of Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's highest civilian honor.
The streets of Riyadh were lined with US and Saudi flags and billboards featuring Trump and King Salman.
Trump is meeting the kingdom's two powerful crown princes on Saturday, before giving a speech on Islam to leaders of Muslim countries on Sunday.
US first lady Melania Trump did not wear a headscarf when she arrived on Saturday along with her husband.
Two years ago, then-citizen Trump criticized former first lady Michelle Obama's decision to go bare-headed on a January 2015 visit with her husband.
Trump's daughter, Ivanka, a senior White House adviser who is accompanying her father, also left her head uncovered.
Tel Aviv on the table
Trump is set to visit Israel on Monday and the occupied Palestinian territories on Tuesday. This next leg will be more complicated, despite the history of warm ties between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A key issue will be the fate of the US embassy, which Trump signaled he would move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
A senior Palestinian official said on Saturday this would be a deal-breaker for the Palestinians.
"We believe that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would mean the end of the peace process," Saeb Erekat, second-in-command of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said days ahead of Trump's visit to the region.
Erekat added that a Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital would have "no meaning."
The new US ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has also backed the move - though there has been no movement so far on the pledge.
Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed the east of the city in a move never recognized by the international community.
Syria
At talks between the two leaders, King Salman was overheard lamenting the Syrian war to Trump.
"Syria too used to be one of the most advanced countries. We used to get our professors from Syria. They served our kingdom. Unfortunately, they too brought destruction to their own country. You can destroy a country in mere seconds, but it takes a lot of effort," he said.
Trump's response could not be heard.
Trump's Middle East visit - awaited with skepticism and hope
As US President Donald Trump makes his first international trip, residents of the Middle East from all walks of life share what they expect of him.
Image: Reuters/F. Al Nasser
Nayef al-Hayzan in Saudi Arabia: 'Will have positive impact'
US President Trump visits two bastions of relative calm in the war-battered Middle East: Saudi Arabia and Israel. In a café in Riyadh, Nayef al-Hayzan explained why he is confident about the US president's trip: "I expect that Trump's visit will have a positive impact on the Saudi economy, and discussions are expected to tackle the problems in Syria."
In Jerusalem, Israel, falafel shop owner Ovad Chen has a more fatalistic view: "I see myself as a very simple person and I believe that at the end of the day, God controls everything. Therefore, it doesn’t really matter what Trump is saying or doing in the Middle East or anywhere else."
Image: Reuters/N. Elias
Iraqi fighter Ali Bassem: 'He is a hero'
All 50 Muslim states whose leaders Trump will meet in the Saudi capital are menaced by the rise of the so-called Islamic State. Ali Bassem, an Iraqi fighter the on the frontline in Mosul is enthusiastic: "He is a hero. He got [IS] out of Iraq. He is cooperative with the Iraqi people and we and the Americans are one nation. We are brothers."
Image: Reuters/D. Siddiqui
Pub owner Somar Hazim in Damascus: 'No clear methodology'
In his pub in Damascus, Syria, Somar Hazim explained his views: "His Syria policy is based on interests, in the sense that there's no clear methodology. As for the issue of arming the Kurds, I do not oppose this as long as the goal is fighting a common enemy of the Syrian state, which is [IS], provided that these weapons are not exploited to create a partitioned idea of Syria."
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
Sherine Haji in Syria: 'I am worried for my people'
Sherine Haji, a female fighter in the Kurdish YPG militia rests in a hospital in Syria. She has a more critical view: "The plan to arm the YPG is a decision taken late. If this support was happening in the first place, the advances would have been quicker. Now I'm wounded, I've lost two legs, I'm worried for my people. This must end, there must be a free and peaceful life in this country."
Image: Reuters/R. Said
Anonymous female fighter in the Gaza strip: 'A man of war'
An anonymous female fighter from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), in the southern Gaza Strip remarked: "Trump is a man of war, he works on spreading war, chaos and killing among people. Like other presidents who came before him, I do not see he will bring about peace or any good to the Palestinian people. I see that there is another war coming."
Image: Reuters/I. A. Mustafa
Marla Awad from Syria on the travel ban 'very bad decision'
Attitudes are also colored by the actions of Trump's first months in power, among them his attempt to ban citizens of some mostly Muslim countries from traveling to the US. Marla Awad from Damascus was upset: "What matters to me was one very bad decision - his refusal to allow Syrians to immigrate to America is racist. Traveling was a dream of mine to fulfill my ambitions to study and work."
Image: Reuters/O. Sanadiki
Student Mubarak Mashali in Egypt: 'Things will get worse'
In Egypt, Mubarak Mashali, a student at Cairo University, was very skeptical, "I think Trump is going to ruin things and make them worse than they already are throughout the whole Middle East."
Image: Reuters/M. A. El Ghany
Sattar Muhsin Ali in Baghdad: 'Trump's policy will hold positive elements'
A different attitude was expressed by Sattar Muhsin Ali in his store in Baghdad, Iraq: "I think the core policy of Trump is focusing on eliminating terrorism and drying out its financial sources in the world and curbing the terror-supporting states. Iraq suffered a lot from the policy of former American administrations which led to the spread of chaos and finally to the emergence of [IS]."
Image: Reuters/T. Al-Sudani
Dates seller Djamel Bouktech in Algeria: 'Will always be friends'
In Algiers, Algeria, dates seller Djamel Bouktech is pragmatic: "I think it's just a simple courtesy visit because the Arabs of the Middle East are and will always be friends and strong allies of the USA. This will have a positive effect for the allies and a negative for the others in the Middle East in the long term because of the fragility of the region."
Image: Reuters/R. Boudina
Refugee Lara Shahin hopes for a 'return to a democratic country'
Trump's decision to launch cruise missiles against a Syrian airbase to punish Damascus for a chemical weapons attack was analyzed by Lara Shahin in Amman: "Trump's decision to strike at the airbase was a surprise move that raised my hopes the US president will take bolder decisions in the future that would end President Bashar al-Assad's rule and allow me to return home to a democratic country."
Image: Reuters/M. Hamed
George Gharib in Lebanon: 'Trump will be like all previous presidents'
In his shop in Beirut, Lebanon, George Gharib doesn't expect much: "I do not expect any change in American policies towards the region, especially since President Trump is committed to moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem and there is no intention to
pressure Israel. He will be like all previous presidents who came before him
with bias and abiding by Israeli interests."
