President Donald Trump’s first overseas trip in his second term took him back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he spoke about the bright economic future of the Middle East and the United States.
This future will be fueled in part by a $600 billion commitment by Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States, among other private sectors deals, noted President Trump.
"In addition to purchases of $142 billion of American-made military equipment by our great Saudi partners, the largest ever, this week there are multibillion-dollar commercial deals with Amazon, Oracle, AMD,. . .Uber, Qualcomm, Johnson & Johnson, and many, many more.”
Over the past eight years, Riyadh has become “a major business, cultural, and high-tech capital of the entire world,” observed President Trump. There have also been remarkable transformations in other cities throughout the peninsula, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Muscat.
“Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts of tired divisions of the past and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos, where it exports technology, not terrorism, and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence.”
Remarkably, this great transformation has not come from “Western interventionists,” noted President Trump.
“Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves, the people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions, and charting your own destinies in your own way.”
President Trump expressed hope that Saudi Arabia would soon establish relations with Israel through 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.”
“Everywhere we can,” said President Trump, “my administration is pursuing peaceful engagement, offering a strong and steady hand of friendship to all that will take it in good faith. Together, we have made unprecedented strides and tremendous progress. And we’re still just at the dawn of the bright new day that awaits for the people of the Middle East.”
