Trump gets the royal-purple-carpet treatment in the Middle East, belying thorny geopolitical challenges

President Donald Trump arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday to a royal-purple-carpet rollout and a motorcade ride ensconced by a calvary of Arabian horses – a daylong kickoff to the first major international trip of his second term. Surrounded by top business leaders and Saudi officials, the president sought to project himself as a consummate dealmaker and diplomat on the world stage. He outlined a lofty vision for peace and prosperity in the region, announced investment deals and said the US would lift sanctions on Syria, a major change in foreign policy. He encouraged Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, agreements inked with neighboring UAE and Bahrain during his first term that normalize relations with Israel. He put pressure on Iran to reach a nuclear deal with the US. The reality, though, is complicated: Trump is contending with an increasingly volatile and unresolved conflict in nearby Gaza that places serious limits on his ability to influence global affairs. Taken together, the president offered one of the most sweeping visions yet of an emerging foreign policy doctrine in four months back on the world stage that has captivated friend and foes alike. “I’m different than a lot of people think,” Trump told the Saudi-US Investment Forum. “I don’t like permanent enemies, but sometimes, you need enemies to do the job and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated.” Pomp, circumstance – and investment deals A former reality television star, Trump is acutely aware of the imagery that goes into a presidential visit, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman understood the assignment. Trump descended the steps of Air Force One to a 21-gun salute as the crown prince welcomed him. The two walked together through the Royal Court for bilateral meetings, a lunch with executives from some of the world’s biggest tech companies, and a signing ceremony underscoring the ways the US and Saudi Arabia’s governments plan to bolster collaboration on a range of defense and energy issues. The lunch, attended by leaders from Amazon, OpenAI, Uber, Northrop Grumman, Palantir, Coca-Cola, Nvidia and Boeing, among others, demonstrated the lengths that America’s tech executives have gone to curry favor with the president during his second term. The White House touted what it described as “transformative deals secured in Saudi Arabia,” pointing to a $20 billion investment by Saudi company DataVolt for AI data centers and energy infrastructure, as well as an $80 billion investment from Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD and Uber in “cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries.” Trump, meanwhile, lavished praise on his hosts during remarks to an investment forum, calling the graciousness of the Saudi people “unsurpassed.” He reaffirmed bonds with the crown prince and announced plans to “make our relationship closer, stronger and more powerful than ever before.” The memoranda of understanding and other agreements signed Tuesday reflected the close ties the crown prince has sought to establish with Trump. It was a significant departure from former President Joe Biden’s vow to make the kingdom a ‘pariah’ after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, whose 2018 killing went without mention Tuesday. A US intelligence report asserts that Prince bin Salman approved the operation to capture or kill the Saudi journalist. A Syria surprise At the end of his hourlong remarks to the investment forum, Trump revealed his plan to lift punishing sanctions on Syria, marking the first step toward a normalization in relations after more than a decade. Trump said he was persuaded to do so after recent discussions with the crown prince, as well as with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important – really an important function, nevertheless – at the time. But now it’s their time to shine,” Trump said. “So, I say, ‘Good luck, Syria.’ Show us something very special.” Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani told the country’s state news agency that the “development marks a pivotal turning point for the Syrian people.” The move – which comes after the December fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime – is likely to face some criticism. New Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa previously founded a militant group known as Jabhat al-Nusra (“the Victory Front” in English), which pledged allegiance to al Qaeda. But in 2016, he broke away from the terror group, according to the US Center for Naval Analyses. Trump is expected to informally greet al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday, a White House official said earlier Tuesday. Expanding the Abraham Accords: Still a ‘fervent hope’ Ahead of Trump’s departure for the trip, there were discussions with Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, about signing agreements to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, Trump administration sources said. Trump said Tuesday it was still his “fervent hope” that Saudi Arabia would eventually sign on, offering some public pressure as the crown prince looked on. “Saudi Arabia — a place I have such respect for, especially over the last fairly short period of time, what you’ve been able to do — will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. I think it will be a tremendous tribute to your country, and will be something that’s really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East,” the president said, though he soon added: “But you’ll do it in your own time. And that’s what I want, and that’s what you want, and that’s the way it’s going to be.” The crown prince, the country’s de facto leader, has stated unequivocally that Riyadh won’t normalize relations with Israel until there is a clear path for Palestinian statehood and a permanent end to the war in Gaza. Observers say neither is likely in the short term. An increasingly volatile conflict in Gaza Even as Trump spoke in Riyadh, he couldn’t avoid the impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict in the region. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he is launching a new, more intensive phase of the war, though an Israeli official has said it would begin after Trump’s visit. During Trump’s remarks, it was reported that Israel targeted Hamas leader Mohammad Sinwar in a strike on a hospital in southern Gaza, according to a senior Israeli official and two sources familiar with the matter. In 2017, Trump made his first major international trip to Saudi Arabia – followed by a stop in Israel. Eight years later, there is no planned stop in the country. Trump reiterated his calls to end the war Tuesday. “The people of Gaza deserve a much better future. But that will or cannot occur as long as their leaders choose to kidnap, torture, and target innocent men, women, and children for political ends. The way those people are treated in Gaza – there’s not a place in the world where people are treated so badly.” Earlier this year, Trump laid out a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, relocate Palestinians, and turn the war-torn enclave into what he described as the “Riviera of the Middle East.” CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes and Jeff Zeleny contributed to this report.