President Donald Trump hailed progress toward peace across the Middle East in an address in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, urging the region to pursue economic development rather than Iran’s “self-destructive” path.
Trump made the comments during a speech in Riyadh shortly after meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump vowed to continue America’s strong partnership with the Saudi government and also condemned Western “interventionalist” policies that have brought disaster in the Middle East.
“If the responsible nations of this region seize this moment, put aside your differences and focus on the interests that unite you, then all humanity will soon be amazed at what we will see here in the geographic center of the world, and the spiritual heart of its greatest faiths,” Trump said.
“Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past, and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other,” he added.
“It is crucial for the wider world to note, this great transformation has not come from Western interventionalists flying in with lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs. The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad,” he continued.
Trump’s speech came after he and Salman signed several economic agreements totaling $600 billion in trade deals. The agreements could help create up to 2 million U.S. jobs, Trump said.
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Several of the agreements tracked with previously stated ambitions by both Washington, D.C., and Riyadh, particularly when it comes to defensive deals.
While the extent of the details of the agreements remain unclear, there were deals included that had not been previously flagged ahead of the president’s visit to the Middle East, like the “cooperation agreement” between Saudi Arabia and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Asian Arts, as well as an agreement established with the Smithsonian Institute National Zoo and Conservation Biology.
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In a statement immediately following the signing ceremony in Riyadh, the White House said, “Saudi Arabia’s $600-billion commitment to invest in the United States, building economic ties that will endure for generations to come.”
The largest investments detailed in the agreement included a $20 billion investment by Saudi Arabia’s DataVolt in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the United States, an $80 billion investment in “cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries” by Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD and Uber, as well as a massive $142 billion defensive package.
According to the White House, “The United States and Saudi Arabia signed the largest defense sales agreement in history – nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen U.S. defense firms.”
The defense sale will reportedly be completed in the fall and will include air force advancement and space capabilities, air and missile defense, maritime and coastal security, border security and land forces modernization, and information and communication systems upgrades.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
