Trump arrives in Saudi Arabia as he sets new course for American policy in Middle East

Geoff Bennett:

President Trump signed several new agreements with Saudi Arabia today on this, the first leg of a three-nation tour of the Middle East. It's his first major trip abroad since retaking the White House.

Amna Nawaz:

The president met with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and spoke at length during an investment conference.

As Nick Schifrin reports, Mr. Trump also assailed decades of American policy in the region while he sets a new course.

Nick Schifrin:

Today in Riyadh, a royal welcome, a rare personal escort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Arabian horses escorting the world's most expensive limo, and U.S.-made Saudi F-15s escorting the world's most expensive passenger plane into Riyadh.

The kingdom welcomed President Trump with lavender carpet treatment, eager for U.S. engagement and believing the best way to enhance it is a meeting of the minds and money, MBS, as the crown prince is widely known, and President Trump mingling with leading CEOs and signing tens of billions of dollars worth of agreements.

Behind the show, the crown prince's diplomatic priorities, including one announced today. President Trump will meet with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the one-time insurgent imprisoned by the U.S. 20 years ago in Iraq, who helped lead an al-Qaida off-shoot in Syria and is now Syria's interim president. He's been campaigning for international recognition and the lifting of sanctions, which today, President Trump told business and Saudi leaders he would grant.

Donald Trump, President of the United States: That's why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.

(Applause)

Donald Trump:

I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.

(Cheering)

Nick Schifrin:

That's a reversal from recent senior U.S. skepticism, including by National Security Council Counterterrorism Director Sebastian Gorka.

Sebastian Gorka, Counterterrorism Director, National Security Council:

I see foreign fighters, foreign fighters from outside of Syria being given very senior positions in the Syrian government and being given Syrian passports. That makes me think, hmm, is he still a jihadi?

Nick Schifrin:

Another Saudi and Arab priority, convince the U.S. not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities and instead make a deal currently being negotiated by Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mediated by Oman, also to end the war in Gaza.

MBS has made it clear, so long as the war goes on, and Israel blocks a Palestinian state, Saudi Arabia will not normalize with Israel. But in the meantime, the U.S. and Saudi deals will proceed, including what the White House called the largest defense sales agreement in history, $142 billion worth of jets, missile defense and other weapons systems.

Also announced today, chip giant Nvidia will build some of the world's most advanced chips in Saudi Arabia. It's designed to tie the kingdom to American technology and exclude Chinese technology. It was just a few years ago that Chinese President Xi Jinping received the same Riyadh lavender carpet treatment. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia will also compete with China by combining forces to mine critical minerals.

And as part of the kingdom's weaning itself off of oil, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will cooperate on energy. A senior Saudi official tells "PBS News Hour" the U.S. is endorsing future Saudi civil nuclear energy. President Trump said today the new Middle East is being forged despite his predecessors' work.

Donald Trump:

The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neocons or liberal nonprofits like those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, so many other cities. Instead, the birth of the modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves.

Nick Schifrin:

That is a shift away from decades of U.S. regional strategy. It's a transactional, realist approach that Middle East leaders know well and welcome.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin.