US President Donald Trump has begun his official visit to the Middle East, starting with his arrival in Saudi Arabia at 9:50 AM local time. Luqman Hariz in Riyadh, provides us with more details.
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00:00U.S. President Donald Trump kick-starts his official visit to the Middle East.
00:06First stop is Saudi Arabia, where Trump arrived at around 9.50am local time or 2.50pm Malaysian time.
00:13For more, we go to Luqman Harris in Riyadh.
00:17Right, thanks Farhana. So, the first day of the official visit of U.S. President Trump to Saudi Arabia.
00:24Trump, as you've mentioned just now, landed at Riyadh International Airport this morning, Saudi time.
00:30That's around 9am, where he was greeted on the tarmac itself by none other than the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,
00:36Mohammed bin Salman, which is something that's quite of a rarity, regardless of which world leader comes to visit this country.
00:44Perhaps signifying the close relations between these two nations,
00:48as well as maybe increased hope and extra effort put in by both parties to ensure that some deals materialise during this short visit.
00:57But we've been made to understand that Trump's schedule is not as packed on day one.
01:01What we know is that he did have a discussion with MBS, Mohammed bin Salman, on a multitude of issues,
01:08some of which were not shared with the journalists here.
01:11After which, he actually paid a visit to the King of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, for a short discussion.
01:17And he participated as well in the Saudi Investment Forum.
01:22Not many details have been shared as yet with the journalists here.
01:25We have about 300 plus journalists from across many countries across the world.
01:29Details have been quite scarce, to be honest with you, because of security reasons, logistical reasons, etc.
01:36So, I guess at this point, the guessing game remains the same in terms of which issues will dominate discussions between these two nations.
01:45As we've shared over the past two days or so, you know, the Gaza conflict remains one issue that's definitely going to be top of the agenda.
01:53Increased geopolitical tensions across the globe, as well as increased volatility and tensions within the Middle East itself,
02:00involving Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Israel, these are all the things that are expected to be top of the list in terms of the discussions that are going to be had.
02:10But one priority is, of course, economic and investment agreements.
02:15It is said that both countries expect from each other a certain level of pledges in terms of investments towards one another.
02:23As we've known, Saudi Arabia has already pledged to invest $600 billion into the U.S. over the next four years.
02:31This is shortly after it announced an arms purchase from the U.S., amounting to about $3.5 billion.
02:37Qatar, shortly before the arrival of Trump in Saudi, also pledged an arms purchase from American companies, amounting to around $1.5 trillion.
02:47And Trump is also said to quote more investments, and so do the Saudis, Qataris and Emiratis.
02:52So, it's a whole numbers game, as far as we know now, in terms of both parties, or all four parties rather, Qatar and UAE,
03:02wanting more investments from one another for different reasons.
03:08But of course, this is also against the backdrop of many political and geopolitical issues that are expected to be discussed.
03:15But, as I've said, not many details have been shared.
03:18We, of course, will update you from time to time in terms of any new updates that are coming up.
03:25It's still unclear whether President Trump will want to hold a press conference at some point.
03:29What we do know is he's going to be speaking at the Saudi Investment Forum.
03:32He also brought numerous notable American business leaders along with him, including Elon Musk, the Tesla founder,
03:39and the CEOs of multiple American companies, especially arms manufacturers.
03:43So, it remains to be seen what's going to be discussed and what's going to come out of these meetings.
03:48Of course, we will update you as soon as we can on Channel 501, all our social platforms, as well as AstroAwani.com.
03:55And for now, we go back from Riyadh to Bukit Jalil, Rahana, all yours.
04:02Right, thank you, Lokman.
04:03We'll be sure to keep following closely.