Donald Trump has arrived in Saudi Arabia to begin a major three-day Middle East tour. It comes after his officials and China agreed to slash tariffs in a de-escalation of their trade war. Watch live below as Trump continues his Saudi Arabia visit.
Tuesday 13 May 2025 11:17, UK
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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.
Away from Saudi Arabia for a moment, as Buckingham Palace has announced French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted an invitation from the King for a state visit the UK.
The visit with his wife, Brigitte, will take place from 8 to 10 July.
You may remember back in February, Sir Keir Starmer presented Donald Trump with a letter from the King inviting him for a second state visit.
Trump, who is a big fan of the royals, was quick to accept the invite after proudly presenting the letter to the world’s media.
While it’s still unclear when that state visit will take place, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to beat Macron to seeing the King.
Watch that moment from February when Starmer handed Trump the invite from the King:
We’ve been bringing you updates as Donald Trump begins his Middle East tour.
He’s already been greeted by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, with members of his cabinet sitting down for initial talks at King Khalid airport in Riyadh.
But what else will the US president be up to today?
Trump’s motorcade will travel from the airport to the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia where there will be an arrival ceremony, and Trump will take part in a coffee ceremony with the crown prince and dignitaries.
There will then also be a bilateral meeting between US and Saudi delegations.
At the end of the day, Trump will attend a lavish state dinner in Riyadh.
We’ll be keeping across these events as the day progresses.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has just been greeting Donald Trump on his arrival in Riyadh.
It’s fair to say that both men are divisive – but that the leader known as MBS is particularly controversial in the West, despite being a reformist in his country.
He gave women the freedom to drive for the first time in Saudi history back in 2018.
He’s also the man behind Vision 2030 – the project to wean Saudi Arabia’s economy off its reliance on oil, which has seen it invest massively in global sport and entertainment (think investments in Newcastle United and the 2034 football World Cup – which also split opinions).
Then there are some staggeringly ambitious building projects in the Saudi desert as part of the Vision 2030 plan.
But there’s a darker side, too.
Most infamously, he was ostracised internationally after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 to obtain papers he needed to get married. He never came out again.
The Washington Post columnist was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents. US intelligence agencies think MBS directly ordered the killing.
There have been other crackdowns, too, and the crown prince also launched a disastrous military campaign in Yemen.
But MBS wasn’t left out in the cold by other world leaders for long.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused his predecessor Boris Johnson of “going cap in hand from dictator to dictator” when the former PM met MBS in 2022.
But in December last year, Starmer went to Saudi Arabia, saying he was putting British jobs first.
Donald Trump’s predecessor as US president – Joe Biden – also talked tough on MBS.
He once promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its human rights record.
In 2022, though, Biden met with MBS.
And more recently, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has established himself as a go-between in some of the world’s biggest conflicts.
In 2023, he hosted Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Riyadh.
This year, he’s held talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
So it seems clear he’s not going anywhere on the global stage anytime soon.
Trump has talked of securing $1trn of investment from Saudi Arabia in the US with his visit – which goes some way to explaining MBS’s ongoing sway with leaders around the world.
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