US President Donald Trump is en route to Doha, Qatar, as White House journalists reported that Air Force One is wheels up from Saudi Arabia.
Recapping Trump’s trip to Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia was Trump’s first stop on the first major international trip of his second term.
In Riyadh, the president received a welcome fit for a king — a royal-purple-carpeted arrival ceremony with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a 21-gun salute, and a motorcade flanked by Arabian horses, among other details sure to impress Trump, who is finely attuned to the stagecraft of a presidential visit.
He lavished praise on the crown prince and highlighted a number of Saudi investments in US business, joined by top CEOs at a Tuesday lunch representing some of the biggest tech companies. And in turn, the US and Saudi Arabia governments further cemented ties with cooperation agreements on a number of areas, including defense and energy.
But it was a keystone speech Tuesday evening at a Saudi investment forum that made headlines as Trump unexpectedly announced plans to drop punishing sanctions on Syria.
On Wednesday, he met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and said he was “exploring normalizing relations” with the country, offering a list of directives, including joining the Abraham Accords to normalize ties with Israel.
Trump joined the Gulf Cooperation Council after that meeting, where he lambasted his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, claimed the 2020 election was “rigged,” and took aim at the White House press corps — a striking display in front of a group of regional leaders.
Trump is now headed to Doha, Qatar.
