President Trump brought his vision for peace and prosperity to the Middle East on Tuesday, calling on Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords and prodding Iran to enter a new nuclear agreement.
At a U.S.-Saudi investment summit in Riyadh, Mr. Trump said that having the kingdom sign onto the accords to normalize and improve relations between Israel and Arab nations was his “fervent hope and wish, even my dream.”
“I think it will be a tremendous tribute to your country, and it will be something that’s really going to be very important for the future of the Middle East,” he said.
The Abraham Accords, brokered by the first Trump administration in 2020, are a series of agreements between Israel and four Arab League members: the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Mr. Trump said the accords, which were always intended to expand to other Arab countries, have “been an absolute bonanza” for the current signatories.
“It will be a special day in the Middle East with the whole world watching when Saudi Arabia joins us, and you’ll be greatly honoring me, and you’ll be greatly honoring all of those people that have fought so hard for the Middle East,” he said.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler who was with Mr. Trump at the summit, has said Saudi Arabia won’t establish diplomatic relations with Israel unless a Palestinian state is recognized.
The crown prince spoke before Mr. Trump addressed the summit and shared similar sentiments about peace and cooperation.
“Mr. President, our joint action is not limited to economic operation but extends towards bringing about security, stability, peace in the region and the world,” he said.
Mr. Trump was in Saudi Arabia at the first stop of a Middle East trip that would also take him to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. It was his first major diplomatic trip abroad during his second term. He traveled to Rome last month to attend the funeral of Pope Francis.
Mr. Trump was treated lavishly by his host in Riyadh. Greeting him were American-made F-15 fighter jets escorting Air Force One, a limousine flanked by riders on white Arabian horses carrying American and Saudi flags, and an honor guard lined up with golden swords.
President Biden received little of the same pomp when he visited three years ago. He had criticized Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” but traveled to the kingdom anyway, implicitly acknowledging that it was too influential as a global player to ignore.
The crown prince greeted the Democratic president at the palace, where the two leaders exchanged a fist bump. Their only other joint public appearance was all business. They sat across from each other at a large conference table, flanked by top advisers.
On Mr. Trump’s visit, concerns about human rights and fossil fuels in the oil-rich autocracy were nowhere on the agenda. Instead, the day was all about cutting deals and celebrating a personal relationship that has endured through scandal and political turmoil.
For the crown prince, the visit was a chance to further rehabilitate his global image after the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence officials accused him of ordering. He was also seeking an economic revival for the kingdom to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, and the occasion was an opportunity to demonstrate that the floodgates for investment were open again.
In a surprise announcement at the summit, Mr. Trump said he ordered the cessation of sanctions against Syria to “give them a chance at greatness.”
The whole room erupted in applause.
“The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important, really an important function, nevertheless, at the time, but now it’s their time to shine,” Mr. Trump said. He added that discussions with the Saudi crown prince and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan influenced the decision.
Mr. Trump agreed to say hello to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday while in Riyadh, the White House said.
It would mark the first meeting between U.S. and Syrian presidents in 25 years. The last meeting was between President Clinton and Syria’s Hafez Assad in Geneva in May 2000.
Syrian dictator Bashar Assad was overthrown in December after a 13-year civil war.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani said on social media that Mr. Trump’s move offered a “new start” to his country’s rebuilding efforts.
“We see the lifting of sanctions as a new beginning on the path to reconstruction,” he wrote. “Thanks to the stances of our Arab brothers, foremost among them Saudi Arabia, we are opening a new chapter toward a future worthy of the Syrian people and their history.”
Some lawmakers in Washington criticized the way Mr. Trump went about the announcement.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts Democrat, said she and Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, “have been pushing President Trump to update our broad and outdated Syria sanctions that, if left in place, will harm U.S. interests and the Syrian people.”
She said the administration should take “concrete steps we laid out or risk walking away from an opportunity to promote stability in the region and help the Syrian people build a better life after years of living under the thumb of the oppressive and brutal Assad regime.”
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that easing sanctions “is a positive development, inviting a broader investment” in the country.
He said it will “help the Syrian people recover from more than a decade of conflict, a decade of underinvestment” and put more emphasis “on economic development, on private businesses and investment.”
For Iran, a country with a long history of conflict with Israel and Saudi Arabia, Mr. Trump urged the Islamic republic’s leaders to proceed cautiously in nuclear negotiations with the U.S.
“We will never allow America and its allies to be threatened with terrorism or nuclear attack. The choice is theirs to make,” he said. “This is an offer that will not last forever. The time is right for them to choose — right now.”
Mr. Trump deployed Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to several rounds of talks with Iran mediated by Oman. Mr. Trump said if no consensus is formed, the U.S. will respond with “maximum pressure.”
Still, he said the U.S. and Iran don’t need to remain enemies.
“In the case of Iran, I have never believed in having permanent enemies. I am different than a lot of people think. I don’t like permanent enemies. Sometimes you need enemies to do the job and you have to do it right. Enemies get you motivated,” he said.
“I want to make a deal with Iran. I can make a deal with Iran. I’ll be very happy if we’re going to make your region and the world a safer place,” Mr. Trump said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi recently said that Tehran will never back down if the U.S. wants to deprive Iran of its “nuclear rights.”
Mr. Trump departs for Qatar on Wednesday and then heads to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.
Trump plans to announce deals at all three stops, initiatives that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy cooperation and beyond.
He thinks more deals with Saudi Arabia should be in the offing.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Mr. Trump said at one point with a smiling crown prince sitting nearby.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
