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() President Donald Trump began the first leg of his four-day Middle East trip Tuesday with a visit to leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Trump’s meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was punctuated by American efforts to end the war in Gaza, negotiate trade deals, maintain oil prices and dismantle Iran’s nuclear program.
Flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Trump indicated the focus for his first major foreign trip was business.
The guest list for Tuesday’s lunch in Saudi Arabia featured some of the world’s biggest business figures, including:
- Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
- Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock
- Kelly Ortberg, president and CEO of Boeing
- Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon
- Ruth Porat, president and CIO of Google
The White House hopes to return more than $1 trillion worth of investments in the United States, a White House official told .
After Tuesday’s lunch, Trump is expected to participate in a Saudi-U.S. investment forum before attending a Saudi state dinner.
Talks are scheduled with some of the world’s richest countries this week, including Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Qatari sources told the goal for their stop is $200 billion in business deals. Ethical concerns have arisen after the country offered Trump a free Air Force One replacement a Boeing 747 worth $400 million.
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer,” Trump told reporters Monday. “I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’”
During the trip, Trump has floated the idea of stepping away from planned stops to visit Turkey as it hosts Ukraine-Russia talks on Thursday.
“I was thinking about flying over. I don’t know where I am going to be on Thursday,” Trump said Monday. “I’ve got so many meetings. … There’s a possibility there, I guess, if I think things can happen.”
The Kremlin has not said whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Turkey.
