The Kremlin has responded to demands for Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet – a meeting Donald Trump supports. He’s in Saudi Arabia, at the start of a three-day Middle East tour – with top US firms in tow. Listen to the latest episode of Trump 100 below as you scroll.
Tuesday 13 May 2025 12:15, UK
Rhiannon Mills, our royal correspondent, looks at the significance of Emmanuel Macron pipping Donald Trump to a UK state visit this year (see 9.25 post) – and what it tells us about the priorities of Keir Starmer’s government, despite its US charm offensive.
The offer of a state banquet is a big deal.
They’re seen as the ultimate diplomatic gift that the United Kingdom can give, as we quite literally roll out the red carpet for countries we really want to keep on side.
It’s why there was so much debate about Donald Trump being given his second and Keir Starmer seeming in such a rush to extend the invitation.
But after reports last month that Emmanuel Macron may get a state visit first, it has now been confirmed that the French president and his wife will be heading to Windsor Castle before the US president.
It will be Macron’s first state visit, but his bromance with King Charles goes way back to when he was Prince of Wales, particularly spending time together on events related to the environment.
But this is more than just the King inviting round an old friend.
It shows that, as well as wanting to stay in Trump’s good books, Europe also remains a priority for the government.
We’ve already seen it recently with Prince William deployed to Estonia and the King and Queen sent to Italy.
A state visit for Macron reinforces that message of friendship, as international relationships have been turned on their head by the American visitor who’ll also potentially be heading through the gates of Windsor Castle sometime soon.
Earlier, we saw Donald Trump greeting dozens of officials as they lined up at the front of the ballroom at the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia.
“Nice to see you,” he repeatedly said as they came up one by one.
“Howdy,” he even said to one woman dressed in Western clothes.
When a Saudi man told Trump his company’s name, the US president replied: “That’s a good one.”
But perhaps the best moment came when a protocol aide introduced deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.
The same title was also read out when James Blair and Taylor Budowich approached Mohammed bin Salman.
That led the crown prince to jokingly ask if there was another one… and indeed there was, with Stephen Miller coming next.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk is reported to have been in conversation with Jensen Huang, chief executive of NVIDIA.
Donald Trump will be hoping to display economic success on his visit to Saudi Arabia, the director of the US and Americas programme at Chatham House has said.
Speaking to our lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim, Leslie Vinjamuri said the backdrop of international economic chaos is one that Trump wants to move away from.
“This is a tremendous opportunity, and there’s the level of optics for him to do that,” she explained.
Vinjamuri added that Trump is willing to strike bilateral deals in areas where Joe Biden was more cautious, and points to semiconductor chips as an example.
She then turned to Saudi Arabia’s pledge of $600bn in investment, and said “for this president, being able to claim success matters a huge amount”.
“There’s a lot of Americans that won’t follow whether those pledges are delivered on, and so those headlines are extremely important.”
Watch the full interview in the video below.
Back in Saudi Arabia, here’s the full list of Donald Trump’s delegation, guests and business leaders that will join Saudi officials for lunch shortly.
It ranges from members of his cabinet and close aides, to senior figures in top US firms like LinkedIn, Google, Amazon, OpenAI and Coca-Cola.
Trump ally Elon Musk is also there, with several guests of his own. So is the mayor of Miami.
Here’s the full list…
Trump’s delegation
Trump’s guests
Businessmen and businesswomen
We have some lines to bring you from the Kremlin now, with one of Donald Trump’s priorities remaining – for now – a peace deal in Ukraine.
At the weekend, Vladimir Putin called on Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet for peace talks.
Zelenskyy originally insisted he’d only do so if Putin agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. But Trump intervened – suggesting it was time to call Putin’s bluff.
So Zelenskyy said he was willing to meet Putin in Istanbul on Thursday this week.
Moscow is showing no signs of offering clarity, though.
In the last few minutes, the Kremlin has declined to comment on who would attend on Russia’s behalf.
It said it would announce those details at a time of its choosing.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “We are not going to comment any more yet.”
He added: “As soon as the president sees fit, we will announce it.”
The US president, who previously claimed he could end the conflict in a day, has repeatedly pushed for both sides to meet to bring the fighting to an end.
As we explained earlier (see 7.02 post), Trump is not ruling out attending the talks himself.
Donald Trump has taken his seat at Saudi Arabia’s royal court, alongside the country’s de facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
To Trump’s right, you can spot his defence secretary Pete Hegseth.
And over to Trump’s left beyond the crown prince, it’s Marco Rubio – his secretary of state and interim national security adviser.
Donald Trump has just arrived at the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia for the next part of his visit.
He salutes as the American national anthem is played, and is in discussion with the country’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as the pair head inside.
The White House has released the list of those having lunch later today with Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and it makes for some interesting reading.
Elon Musk is expected to be there in his capacity as chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino is also attending.
It’s worth noting that the previous World Cup – run by FIFA – was held in Qatar in 2022, with Saudi Arabia to host the tournament in 2034.
The leaders of Amazon, NVIDIA, OpenAI, Uber, Coca Cola, Google and Boeing are also among those expected to be there.
We told you earlier that Donald Trump’s motorcade will travel to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia, where there will be an arrival ceremony (see 9.05 post).
Here’s the scene in Riyadh, where the US president will also take part in a coffee ceremony with the crown prince and dignitaries.
Remember, you can watch along in the live stream at the top of this page.
We saw members of Donald Trump’s cabinet sitting alongside the US president shortly after Air Force One touched down in Saudi Arabia.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio was sitting closest to Trump, with defence secretary Pete Hegseth next along the line.
The situation in Gaza, Syria, and the war in Ukraine are expected to be a key part of talks between US and Saudi officials.
Commerce secretary Howard Lutnick is also in attendance, with envoy Steve Witkoff there too.
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