U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a series of sweeping agreements with Saudi Arabia, including what the White House has called “the largest defense sales agreement in history” and a dramatic shift in policy toward Syria.
Speaking from Riyadh, Trump revealed a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia covering critical sectors such as energy security, defense, technology, and infrastructure. A centerpiece of the package is a $142 billion defense deal that will see the U.S. supply state-of-the-art military equipment and services from more than a dozen American defense firms.
“This deal represents a significant investment in Saudi Arabia’s defense and regional security, built on American systems and training,” the White House stated. The agreement signals a deepening of strategic ties between Washington and Riyadh at a time of rising regional instability.
Trump also used the opportunity to announce a dramatic policy shift on Syria. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance,” he told attendees at a regional investment forum, adding that the U.S. is initiating steps to normalize relations with Damascus. The move is expected to spark debate in Washington, where U.S. policy toward Syria has remained hardline for over a decade.
Trump praised Saudi Arabia as a key partner in regional stability and reiterated his hope that the kingdom would join the Abraham Accords—U.S.-brokered agreements that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab nations during Trump’s first term. Progress on further normalization, however, has stalled amid ongoing U.S. support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which have claimed over 52,900 Palestinian lives since October 2023.
In a bid to advance international diplomacy, Trump also announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Türkiye later this week to participate in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Saudi Arabia is the first leg of Trump’s four-day Middle East tour, which will also include visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as he seeks to reassert U.S. influence in the region.
