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. Listen to the latest episode of the Trump 100 podcast while you scroll.
Tuesday 13 May 2025 08:48, UK
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.
Donald Trump’s three-day tour of the Middle East is now under way after touching down in Saudi Arabia.
Here’s a look at the grand welcome he received.
Donald Trump has stepped off Air Force One and is greeted at the bottom of the stairs by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.
It marks the start of his pivotal three-day visit to the Middle East, in which he will also be visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
A purple carpet has been rolled out for Donald Trump after landing in Saudi Arabia.
He’s set to meet the country’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman after walking down the steps of Air Force One.
Watch the moment in the live stream at the top of this page.
Our US correspondent Mark Stone, who is in Riyadh, says there’s “huge excitement” for Donald Trump’s visit.
But he explains that “so much has changed” since the US president visited Saudi Arabia in his first term.
“Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries are much more politically confident,” he says.
“Now, Saudi Arabia sees itself as a regional, perhaps even global power broker.”
While business, investment and commerce has been flowing through the country, it is now also the stage for foreign diplomacy with US officials holding multiple rounds of peace talks with Ukraine and Russia.
Stone spoke to the world’s billionaires and politicians at a Saudi-backed conference in Miami in March to find out whether the country is the world’s new peace broker.
Donald Trump has just landed in Saudi Arabia to kick off his pivotal three-day tour of the Middle East.
It’s his first major foreign diplomatic trip of his second term, and will also include visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Our lead world news presenter Yalda Hakim says it marks the start of an “incredibly historic week” for both the Middle East and the US.
Hakim explains that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has already pledged around $600bn in investment, and says “this trip is going to be about big business and big investments”.
The US president is set to be greeted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after arriving at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.
Air Force One is closing in on Saudi Arabia, and it’s already been quite the welcome for Donald Trump.
At least five fighter jets are flanking the US president’s plane as it comes in for landing.
Take a look at the video below, shared by the White House deputy chief of staff…
With Donald Trump’s trip to Saudi Arabia on Air Force One nearing its conclusion, concern has been raised over the lack of reporters on board from news agencies.
The White House Correspondents Association said it’s disturbed that no reporters from The Associated Press, Bloomberg or Reuters were allowed on Air Force One.
It said it was the first time since reporters started travelling with a president abroad that no news wire service reporters were on the plane, with millions of readers around the world served by the organisations.
The White House has been in a court battle with The Associated Press (AP) since it restricted the agency’s access to events.
That’s because AP refused to follow Trump’s directive that the Gulf of Mexico has been renamed the Gulf of America.
Some more detail to bring you on what Donald Trump had to say about attending proposed talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin before boarding Air Force One.
The US president said he is “thinking” of going to Turkey for potential talks between the leaders on Thursday.
“I was thinking about flying over,” he told reporters.
“I don’t know where I am going be on Thursday, I’ve got so many meetings.
“There’s a possibility there I guess, if I think things can happen.”
The US president, who previously claimed he could end the conflict in a day, has pushed for both sides to meet to bring the fighting to an end.
On Sunday, Zelenskyy called for Putin to meet him on Thursday in Istanbul, but the Kremlin leader has yet to respond.
More on that Qatari plane now, which has dominated talk in the build-up to Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East.
Yesterday, Trump claimed it would be “stupid” not to accept the gift of the free plane to replace Air Force One.
But tracking data shows the jet is sitting at San Antonio International Airport, our US partner network NBC News reports, adding that it has been parked there since 3 April.
It’s the same plane the US president toured at Palm Beach International Airport on 15 February.
Watch below as US correspondent Mark Stone explains the row over the plane…
…or tap below to read the full story.
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