Saudi crown prince welcomes Trump

Riyadh, May 14: President Donald Trump opened his four-day Mideast trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran's nuclear program, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more.

Bin Salman warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One and kicked off his Middle East tour.

The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun-belts.

The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom's capital.

Trump and bin Salman were scheduled to appear at a lunch at the Royal Court. Several major business executives were invited to the event, including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Musk is also leading the Department of Government Efficiency, a controversial second term effort tasked with waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S. government.

Later, t he crown prince will fete Trump with a formal dinner. Trump is also slated to take part Tuesday in a U.S.-Saudi investment conference.

"When Saudis and Americans join forces, very good things happen — more often than not, great things happen," Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC+ nations have already helped their cause with Trump early in his second term by stepping up oil production. Trump sees cheap energy as a key component to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans. The president has also made the case that lower oil prices will hasten an end to Russia's war on Ukraine.

But Saudi Arabia's economy remains heavily dependent on oil, and the kingdom needs a fiscal break-even oil price of $96 to $98 a barrel to balance its budget. It's questionable how long OPEC+, of which Saudi Arabia is the leading member, is willing to keep production elevated. The price of a barrel of Brent crude closed Monday at $64.77.

"One of the challenges for the Gulf states of lower oil prices is it doesn't necessarily imperil economic diversification programs, but it certainly makes them harder," said Jon Alterman, a senior Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Trump picked the kingdom for his first stop because it has pledged to make big investments in the U.S., but Trump ended up traveling to Italy last month for Pope Francis' funeral. Riyadh was the first overseas stop of his first term.

The three countries on the president's itinerary — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are all places where the Trump Organization, run by Trump's two elder sons, is developing major real estate projects. They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.

Trump is trying to demonstrate that his transactional strategy for international politics is paying dividends as he faces criticism from Democrats who say his global tariff war and approach to Russia's war on Ukraine are isolating the United States from allies.

He's expected to announce deals with the three wealthy countries that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy cooperation and perhaps new arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The administration earlier this month announced initial approval to sell $3.5 billion worth of air-to-air missiles for Saudi Arabia's fighter jets.(AP)