Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince have signed an arms package worth nearly $142 billion in Riyadh, according to the White House.
Described by the Trump administration as “the largest defense cooperation agreement” in history, the package includes deals with more than a dozen American defense companies across sectors such as air and missile defense.
“The deals celebrated today are historic and transformative for both countries and represent a new golden era of partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia,” the White House said in a statement.
A partnership between Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior and the FBI has also been included in the agreements.
Early on Tuesday, Trump attended a VIP lunch at the lavish Saudi Royal Court alongside other high-profile guests including Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO who is leading the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Musk, who previously said he would significantly reduce the amount of time spent on DOGE from May, still appears to be a prominent figure in the Trump Administration.
Other key U.S. business figures including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink were also in attendance.
Trump is expected to attend a dinner with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, later on Tuesday.
Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank, told TIME that “there is also the potential for a civil-nuclear deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, which was long tied to the possibility of Saudi-Israel normalization but has recently been decoupled.”
Read More: Why Trump and the Saudis Are Cozying Up
Experts including Dent have touted the potential deals as a boon to Saudi plans to diversify its economy away from oil under its Vision 2030.
While in Saudi Arabia, Trump is expected to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit. Here, more diplomatic issues will be discussed, including working toward an end to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, plus talks on a possible nuclear deal with Iran.
Later in the week, Trump will visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to discuss other diplomatic and investment deals. This week, the President said he plans to accept a luxury jet as a gift from Qatar, which raises legal and constitutional concerns.
Trump’s first overseas trip in his previous term was to the Middle East. The expectation was the same would happen now that he has returned to the White House. But Trump traveled abroad earlier last month to attend the funeral of Pope Francis.
In May 2017, Trump attended the Arab-Islamic-American summit in Riyadh, where regional leaders came together to discuss security and terrorism issues. Investment between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia was a key outcome of the visit, as is expected for this week’s trip.
