Donald Trump gets eight-fighter jet escort as Air Force One arrives in Qatar
Donald Trump received an escort of eight fighter jets from Qatar and then inked a multi-billion dollar deal with his host, the second on his Gulf tour. Follow updates.
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US President Donald Trump received an eight-fighter jet escort as Air Force One arrived in Qatar for the second stop on his three-nation tour of the Middle East.
The show of respect appeared to one-up the emirate’s neighbouring frenemy Saudi Arabia, which provided a six-fighter jet escort earlier this week.
Journalists aboard Air Force One spotted four Qatari jets off the right side of the plane while White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tweeted footage of four more to the left.
Mr Trump said Qatar Airways had placed a “record” order for 160 planes from Boeing worth more than US$200 billion (A$310bn) as he signed a raft of deals in Doha alongside Qatar’s emir.
“It’s over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the jets. That’s fantastic. So that’s a record,” Mr Trump said, adding: “It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing. That’s pretty good.”
His comments followed a deal signing ceremony that included defence agreements including on defence co-operation and the purchase by Qatar of American MQ-9B drones, after about two hours of talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
His Qatar visit is the second destination of his Gulf tour, after a first stop in Riyadh, where he made a surprise announcement lifting sanctions on Syria and met the country’s president.
Relations between Washington and Doha have been in the spotlight over Qatar’s offer to Mr Trump of a $400 million (A$620mn) luxury aircraft to serve as a new Air Force One and then pass into his personal use.
Mr Trump’s presidential motorcade made its way from the airport to central Doha led by two Tesla cybertruck cars, customised in the distinctive red of Qatar’s internal security forces.
Mr Trump’s Middle East tour will include a stop in the United Arab Emirates as well, but no trip to Israel.
The US President told reporters that his trip will be good for the Jewish state — after personally pressuring the leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations.
“This is good for Israel, having a relationship like I have with these countries; Middle Eastern countries, essentially all of them. I think it’s very good for Israel,” Mr Trump said.
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TRUMP MEETS WITH SYRIAN LEADER
Donald Trump became the first US president in 25 years to meet a Syrian leader after he offered sanctions relief in hopes of offering a new path to the war-battered country.
Mr Trump, in Riyadh on the first state visit of his second term, met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, an erstwhile Islamist guerrilla turned interim president after the December of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad.
The two held brief talks ahead of a larger gathering of Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia during Trump’s tour of the region, a White House official said.
No US president has met a Syrian leader since Bill Clinton saw Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, in Geneva in 2000 in a failed effort to persuade him to make peace with Israel.
Mr Trump announced that he was lifting “brutal and crippling” Assad-era sanctions on Syria in response to demands from Sharaa’s allies in Turkey and Saudi Arabia – in his latest step out of tune with US ally Israel.
Mr Trump said it was Syrians’ “time to shine” and that easing sanctions would “give them a chance at greatness”.
Syrians celebrated the news, with dozens of men, women and children gathering in Damascus’s Umayyad Square.
“My joy is great. This decision will definitely affect the entire country positively. Construction will return, the displaced will return, and prices will go down,” said Huda Qassar, a 33-year-old English-language teacher.
The Syrian foreign ministry called Trump’s decision a “pivotal turning point” that would help bring stability.
The United States imposed sweeping restrictions on financial transactions with Syria during the brutal civil war and made clear it would use sanctions to punish anyone involved in reconstruction so long as Assad remained in power without accountability for atrocities.
Trump gave no indication that the United States would remove Syria from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism -- a designation dating back to 1979 over support to Palestinian militants that severely impedes investment.
US, SAUDI ARABIA INK MASSIVE DEAL
Saudi Arabia promised billions of dollars in deals with the United States from defence to artificial intelligence as it threw a lavish welcome for President Trump on the first state visit of his second term.
The Saudis escorted Air Force One into the kingdom with fighter jets before bringing out long-stretching guards of honour and sending flag-waving cavalry to accompany Mr Trump’s motorcade to the palace.
Under imposing chandeliers, Mr Trump welcomed a promise by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for $600 billion (A$929bn) in investment and quipped that it should be $1 trillion.
“We have the biggest business leaders in the world here today and they’re going to walk away with a lot of cheques,” Trump told the prince.
For “the United States, it’s probably two million jobs that we’re talking about,” Mr Trump said.
The White House said that Saudi Arabia would buy nearly $142 billion (A$220bn) in weapons in what it described as the largest-ever weapons deal, although Trump in his first term trumpeted a larger, longer-term figure.
The White House said that Saudi company DataVolt will invest $20 billion (A$31bn) in artificial intelligence-related sites in the United States, while tech firms including Google will invest in both countries - welcome news for Saudi Arabia which has long faced restrictions in US advanced technology.
With cameras rolling, a lengthy procession of Saudi royalty and business figures waited their turn to shake hands with Mr Trump and the crown prince, including Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and close adviser to Mr Trump, who made a rare appearance in a suit.
The US leader will head later in the week to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, fellow oil-rich Arab monarchies with longstanding ties to the United States - and to Mr Trump.
In choosing The Gulf for his first major tour, the 78-year-old billionaire is again bypassing traditional presidential stops among Western allies, some of which have been unnerved by his norms-shattering diplomacy.
Eight years ago, Mr Trump also chose Saudi Arabia for his first overseas trip - when he posed with a glowing orb and participated in a sword dance.
Mr Trump’s embrace of the Saudis contrasts with a more hesitant initial approach by former president Joe Biden, who had vowed to punish the crown prince after US intelligence found that he ordered the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Mr Trump reminisced with the 39-year-old crown prince over their first meeting, saying he was “so impressed with this young guy who was very wise beyond his years”.
Since Khashoggi’s gruesome killing, Saudi Arabia has worked aggressively to change its image, from easing restrictions on women to diversifying from oil to new areas such as artificial intelligence.
The country has also increasingly exercised diplomatic clout, serving as a venue for the United States to pursue talks with Ukraine and Russia.
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have also sought outsized international roles, with the Qataris serving as a mediator along with the United States and Egypt in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Jon Alterman, senior vice president at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said that for President Trump, The Gulf “is his happy place”.
The leaders will “flatter him and not criticise him. And they’ll treat his family members as past and future business partners,” he said.
Qatar offered a luxury Boeing aircraft for Mr Trump to refurbish as Air Force One and then keep after he leaves the White House.
Mr Trump’s Democratic rivals have called the gift blatant corruption. Mr Trump has hit back that the deal was “very public and transparent”.
An ultimate prize, pushed both by Mr Trump and Mr Biden, has been to persuade Saudi Arabia, home of Islam’s holiest sites, to take the landmark step of recognising Israel.
But Israel normalisation appears remote as Riyadh insists that a Palestinian state be established first.
TRUMP CALLS ON SAUDI ARABIA TO RECOGNISE ISRAEL
President Trump called on Saudi Arabia to recognise Israel during a speech to the oil-rich kingdom’s leaders on Tuesday — saying “you’ll be greatly honouring me” by doing so.
Mr Trump frequently referred to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by name during his speech as the country’s de facto ruler watched from the front row.
“With the historic Abraham Accords that we’re so proud of, all the momentum was aimed at peace, aimed very successfully,” Mr Trump said.
“It’s been an amazing thing, the Abraham Accords, and it’s my fervent hope, wish, and even my dream that Saudi Arabia — a place I have such respect for, especially over the last fairly short period of time, what you’ve been able to do — but will soon be joining the Abraham Accords.”
“I think it’ll be a tremendous tribute to your country, and it will be something that’s really going to be very important for the future of the future of the Middle East. I took a risk in doing them, and they’ve been an absolute bonanza for the countries that have joined the Biden administration did nothing for four years.”
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Originally published as Donald Trump gets eight-fighter jet escort as Air Force One arrives in Qatar
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