President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria, and secured a $600 billion US commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States on a trip to the Gulf.
The U.S. agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly $142 billion, according to the White House which called it “the largest defence co-operation agreement” Washington has ever done.
The surprise announcement about the sanctions would be a huge boost for Syria, which has been shattered by more than a decade of civil war. Rebels led by current President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled President Bashar al-Assad last December.
Speaking in Riyadh, Trump said he was acting on a request to scrap the sanctions by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump said, drawing laughs from the audience. He said the sanctions had served an important function but that it was now time for the country to move forward.
The United States declared Syria a state sponsor of terrorism in 1979, added sanctions in 2004 and imposed further sanctions after the civil war broke out in 2011.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said on X that the planned move marked a “new start” in Syria’s path to reconstruction. Trump has agreed to briefly greet Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a White House official said.
Trump and the Saudi crown prince signed an agreement covering energy, defence, mining and other areas. Trump has sought to strengthen relations with the Saudis to improve regional ties with Israel and act as a bulwark against Iran.
The agreement covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defence companies in areas including air and missile defence, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, the fact sheet said. The Saudi prince said the deal included investment opportunities worth $600 billion, including deals worth $300 billion that were signed during Trump’s visit.
“We will work in the coming months on the second phase to complete deals and raise it to $1 trillion,” he said.
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for U.S. arms.
Reuters reported in April the U.S. was poised to offer the kingdom an arms package worth well over $100 billion.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said during a meeting with the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
The U.S. and Saudi Arabia had discussed Riyadh’s potential purchase of Lockheed F-35 jets, two sources briefed on discussions told Reuters, referring to a military aircraft that the kingdom is long thought to have been interested in.
It was not immediately clear whether those aircraft were covered in the deal announced on Tuesday.
Trump, who was accompanied by U.S. business leaders including billionaire Elon Musk, will go on from Riyadh to Qatar on Wednesday and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
He has not scheduled a stop in Israel, a decision that has raised questions about where the close ally stands in Washington’s priorities, and the focus of the trip is on investment rather than security matters in the Middle East.
Trump, however, wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a new ceasefire deal in the 19-month-old Gaza war.
Front Burner28:32Trump sidelines Israel, Gaza expansion looms
Israel’s military operations against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and its assassinations of the two Iran-allied groups’ leaders, have at the same time given Trump more leverage by weakening Tehran and its regional allies.
U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in Oman over the weekend to discuss a potential deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program. Trump has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Speaking at a forum on Saudi-U.S. investment in Riyadh, Trump on Tuesday said relations with Saudi Arabia will be even stronger.
Trump called the Saudi crown prince a friend and said they have a good relationship, according to a pool report from the Wall Street Journal, adding that Saudi investment would help create jobs in the U.S.
The crown prince, who is otherwise known as MbS, has focused on diversifying the Saudi economy in a major reform program dubbed Vision 2030 that includes “Giga-projects” such as NEOM, a futuristic city the size of Belgium. Oil generated 62 per cent of Saudi government revenue last year.
The kingdom has scaled back some of its ambitions as rising costs and falling oil prices weigh.
Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have maintained strong ties for decades based on an ironclad arrangement in which the kingdom delivers oil and the superpower provides security in exchange.
Trump said it was his “fervent hope” that Saudi Arabia would soon sign its own normalization agreement with Israel, adding, “But you’ll do it in your own time.”
Still, Netanyahu’s opposition to a permanent stop to the war in Gaza or to the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress on similar talks with the Saudis unlikely, sources told Reuters.
