Trump plans to lift Syria sanctions and touts $142 bn arms deal on Saudi visit

President Donald Trump arrived in Riyadh to red-carpet pageantry, purple wild-flower carpets and an equine honour guard, telling a lavish investment forum that “no stronger partner” exists than Saudi Arabia and unveiling US$142 billion in fresh weapons sales alongside Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Flanked by corporate titans Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Larry Fink and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, he pitched America as the world’s prime destination for Gulf petrodollars and hailed plans that Saudi officials say could swell to US$1 trillion in U.S. deals, from AI chips to data-centre infrastructure.

In the speech’s geopolitical bombshell, Trump announced he would lift all remaining U.S. sanctions on Syria, praising the country’s new transitional president and joking that the reversal came “for my friend MBS.” Damascus hailed the move as a “new start,” while regional diplomats scrambled to gauge how the volte-face squares with Washington’s past stance on Assad-era atrocities. Trump, eyeing a broader economic realignment, also reiterated his “dream” of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords once the Gaza war ends and a path to Palestinian statehood is clear.

Beyond the fanfare, limits to this friendship surfaced: Riyadh maintained it would not formalise ties with Israel until Gaza sees lasting peace, and human-rights groups blasted the Syria decision as premature. Still, the trip underscored Trump’s transactional doctrine: prosperity first, politics later. With stops in Qatar and the UAE ahead—and Gulf sovereign funds pledging hundreds of billions for U.S. projects—the White House believes commerce, not coercion, will “transcend violence and division” in the Middle East, even as critics warn that sanctions relief and mega-arms deals risk reinforcing authoritarian rule.