Tabnak – US President Donald Trump has landed in Saudi Arabia in an apparent effort to publicly appeal to Muslims worldwide to view him as a partner and not an enemy. In his trip, Trump also tries to reshape the strained relationship with the Saudis and to consolidate the economic and security relations between the two countries.
A red carpet was rolled out as the Air Force One touched down in Riyadh shortly before 9:50 am local time. Trump will hold talks with Saudi leaders later on Saturday and will outline his vision for US-Muslim relations to an audience of more than 50 leaders of Muslim countries attending the "Arab Islamic American Summit” on Sunday.
In a report of the trip, Reuters writes that with delicate diplomatic meetings facing him, including three summits, Trump faces a challenge of advancing his "America First" agenda without alienating key allies during his first trip abroad.
It believes however that uproar in Washington threatened to cast a long shadow over the trip. His firing of Comey and the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his campaign's ties to Russia last year has triggered a stream of bad headlines.
At the same time, the New York Times believes that For Trump, the warm embrace by the Saudi monarchy is a welcome break from the cascade of bad news in Washington. In other words, it is unclear whether reporters traveling with Trump will have an opportunity to press him on reports that he had referred to James B. Comey, the former FBI director, as "a nut job” during meetings with Russians in the Oval Office last week.
It should be noted that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week that the visit was aimed at getting Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations in the region to stand in "unity” with Israel and confront Iran.
Trump also plans to deliver on his promises to boost manufacturing jobs in the US by offering the Riyadh regime a wide range of weapons deals, Reuters reported earlier this month, citing unnamed sources within the administration.
According to Reuters, Trump may offer the Saudis an agreement with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin for a $1 billion THAAD missile system, similar to the one that the US has already sent to South Korea.
Meanwhile, Press TV reports that Saudi Arabia has been investing billions of dollars in order to boost its holdings of US Treasury bonds ahead of Trump’s visit to the kingdom. Saudi holdings of US Treasury bonds were at $89.4 billion during September of last year but it climbed up to $114.4 billion in March this year, according to the US Treasury Department.
Trump’s selection of Saudi Arabia as his maiden overseas trip perhaps signals that he is ready to change his behavior and tone to embrace a country responsible for widespread human rights violations and an escalating humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
