Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman sign a $142bn (£107bn) defence agreement.
The US will provide “state-of-the-art warfighting equipment” to Saudi Arabia, who will in turn invest $20bn (£15bn) in artificial intelligence in the US, as part of the deal.
Trump is on the first leg of a major diplomatic four-day tour to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and UAE – watch live images above
Earlier, Trump was joined by Elon Musk and other business leaders at a lavish lunch in Riyadh.
AI, gas turbines and planes – the other deals agreed in Saudi Arabiapublished at 14:4214:42
The White House has released more detail about what else is included in the deals signed in Saudi Arabia:
- The White House says Saudi Arabia has made a $600bn (£453bn) “commitment to invest in the United States”
- There’s $20bn in Saudi investment in artificial intelligence data centres around the US
- A commitment from US technology firms to invest $80bn in “cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries”
- US exports of gas turbines and energy solutions worth $14.2bn, as well as Boeing 737-8 passenger aircraft worth $4.8bn
- Cooperation agreements between the two countries’ energy and mining sectors
What’s in the US-Saudi arms deal?
We can bring you more detail now on what the White House is calling the “largest defence sales agreement in history” – nearly $142bn (£107bn).
In a White House press release, the US says the arms sales cover five categories:
- Air force advancement and space capabilities
- Air and missile defence
- Maritime and coastal security
- Border security and land forces modernisation
- Information and communication systems upgrades
The package also includes “extensive training and support to build the capacity of the Saudi armed forces, including enhancement of Saudi service academies and military medical services”, the White House says.
The expectation that the two would sign an arms deal was widely reported ahead of the visit, and follows the resumption of US offensive weapons sales to the Saudis last year.
Source:BBC
