US President Donald Trump made his first major foreign visit to Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on May 13, after starting his second presidential term. During the trip, a number of historic agreements were signed between the two countries in the fields of defense, economy, and technology. This was reported by the BBC.
According to an official statement from the White House, the US and Saudi Arabia signed the "largest defense contract in history," worth $142 billion. This agreement includes the supply of military equipment and services produced by about ten US defense companies to Saudi Arabia. The contract covers the following five key areas:
- Strengthening military air forces and expanding capabilities in space technology;
- Developing air and missile defense systems;
- Ensuring maritime and coastal security;
- Improving border control and modernizing land military units;
- Equipping information and communication systems with new technologies.
Additionally, enhancing the combat capabilities of the Saudi armed forces and strengthening military academies and military medical services are also included in this agreement.
During Trump's visit, additional significant economic agreements were also reached between the two countries. In particular, Saudi Arabia committed to invest a total of $600 billion in the US economy. The majority of these investments will be directed towards establishing artificial intelligence data centers in the United States. In turn, major US technology companies have promised to invest $80 billion in modern and advanced technologies in both countries.
The United States will export gas turbines and energy technologies worth $14.2 billion to Saudi Arabia, as well as Boeing 737-8 aircraft worth $4.8 billion. At the same time, agreements were signed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the energy and mining sectors.
Trump held high-level talks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Meanwhile, meetings with leading Saudi business representatives were conducted by Trump's advisor, famous billionaire Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
As part of the visit, a Saudi-US investment forum was also held, attended by leaders from global corporations such as Citigroup, IBM, Qualcomm, Alphabet, and Franklin Templeton.
Overall, it is emphasized that Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia served to further strengthen relations between the two countries and elevate economic, defense, and technological cooperation to a new level.
