Trump in golf region: USA and Saudis decide on large armaments business

During the visit of President Donald Trump, the United States and Saudi Arabia agreed in Riyadh armaments shops worth $ 142 billion. It is the “greatest defense sales in history,” said the White House after a meeting of Trump with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.

In advance, the Saudi investments in the United States, in terms of $ 600 billion, had promised over four years – but left out concrete details. Economic deals are at the center of Trump’s trip to the Golf region.

Armor goods from more than a dozen US companies

During Trump’s visit, details of the planned shops of both countries were published, including the new weapons deals. Saudi Arabia is said to receive armaments and services from more than a dozen US companies from the field of defense. Among other things, it is about modernizing the Saudi Air Force, defense systems and the protection of boundaries, sea routes and communication systems.

There were further commitments in the areas of energy, technology and health. In an overview of the White House, the new investments overall remained well below the total of $ 600 billion.

Riyadh focuses primarily on the United States during defense

The United States is the most important partner in security issues for Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia looked at Iran’s growing influence and the militias in the region supported by Tehran for a long time and focused on the USA for a long time. With the help of the US military, the golf state has fended off several terrorist and other attacks. The military also regularly keep exercises together.

The armor transactions of the two countries made headlines during Trump’s visit to his first term in 2017. The US government described the weapon business at the time of around $ 110 billion as the largest individual armaments deal in US history. However, it remained unclear how much of it actually came about: by the end of 2018, Saudi Arabia, according to reports, had only bought armaments worth $ 14.5 billion.

The greatest armaments for the USA

Riad has long hoped for an even more comprehensive cooperation and the protection of the American military. According to Sipri, Riad has been the largest recipient country of US weapons for years. In recent years, however, there had been resistance to arms deliveries to Saudi Arabia in the US Parliament, among other things, because of his participation in the Yemen War and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who lived and worked in the USA.

Khashoggi was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, his body was dismembered and is still unobtrusive. The US intelligence agencies saw the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman as a mastermind for the crime. Trump, who was in the middle of his first term, had already maintained support for Saudi Arabia at the time. And at the start of his second term, the Republican is again looking for the proximity to the rich desert state.

Three countries in four days

Trump had already set an example in the first years of government when he was the first country at all after taking office in January 2017. After returning to the White House in January, he had openly flirted with the Saudi’s honor of the first visit again, provided that they were willing to invest a trillion US dollar in the United States.

Saudi Arabia is the first stop on a trip through the Middle East on a trip of Trump, which is several days. Subsequently, stops in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are planned. At the end of April, Trump had been traveling to Rome for the funeral for the late Pope. However, the Middle East trip is its first major international journey in the classic sense since taking office in January.