Donald Trump says he will make Saudi Arabia his first foreign trip in exchange for $500 billion

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If Riyadh agrees to purchase $450 to $500 billion worth of American goods, as he claims they did during his inauguration and visit in 2017, US President Donald Trump indicated he could make Saudi Arabia the location of his first foreign trip following his election.

When asked by reporters about his plans for his first international trip after his inauguration on Monday, Trump said, “[The first foreign trip typically has been with [the] UK, but we did it I did it with Saudi arabia last time because they agreed to buy 450 billion dollars worth of our products”.

“I said I’ll do it but you have to buy American products and they agreed to do that, they bought 450 billions, it was the least reported story I’ve ever been involved in”.

“Well I don’t know if Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another 450 or 500 — we’ll up it for all the inflation — [then]I think I would probably go there”.

After a tense election in 2016, Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President of the United States. On Monday, he was sworn in as the 47th president, defeating Joe Biden, who had defeated Trump in 2020.

Since it was the first time a U.S. president had chosen a Middle Eastern nation for their first international tour, Trump’s 2017 visit to Saudi Arabia was historic. A session with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders was part of the visit, which focused on economic cooperation, counterterrorism initiatives, and resistance to Iran’s regional influence.

Although later reports and fact-checks questioned these figures, a $110 billion arms agreement with Saudi Arabia was announced during the trip, with the total estimated to reach $350 billion over ten years. Saudi Arabia had signed letters of intent for much lower sums, with only $14.5 billion in confirmed orders by that time, according to the Associated Press in 2018.

The Trump administration supported Saudi-led initiatives against Iran and its supporters while focussing on arms sales and economic alliances in an effort to deepen ties with Gulf countries. However, there have been times when these ties have been strained by scandals, such as the 2018 murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi, which sparked criticism of U.S. backing for Saudi Arabia from both parties.

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