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Trump says will lift all Syria sanctions

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Major investment expected from Gulf states

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Trump not visiting Israel during the trip

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Offers brighter future to Iran but warns of maximum

pressure if

no new nuclear deal

By Yousef Saba, Gram Slattery, Pesha Magid, Nafisa Eltahir

RIYADH, May 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump

announced on Tuesday that the U.S. will lift long-standing

sanctions on Syria, and secured a $600 billion commitment from

Saudi Arabia to invest in the United States on a trip to the

Gulf.

The U.S. agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth

nearly $142 billion, according to the White House which called

it "the largest defense cooperation agreement" Washington has

ever done.

The surprise announcement about sanctions on Syria would be a

huge boost for a country that has been shattered by more than a

decade of civil war. Rebels led by current President Ahmed

al-Sharaa toppled President Bashar al-Assad last December.

Speaking in Riyadh, Trump said he was acting on a request to

scrap the sanctions by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Prince

Mohammed bin Salman.

"Oh what I do for the crown prince," Trump said, drawing

laughs from the audience. He said the sanctions had served an

important function but that it was now time for the country to

move forward.

The United States declared Syria a state sponsor of

terrorism in 1979, added sanctions in 2004 and imposed further

sanctions after the civil war broke out in 2011.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Shibani said on X that the

planned move marked a "new start" in Syria's path to

reconstruction. Trump has agreed to briefly greet Sharaa in

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a White House official said.

Trump and the Saudi crown prince signed an agreement covering

energy, defense, mining and other areas. Trump has sought to

strengthen relations with the Saudis to improve regional ties

with Israel and act as a bulwark against Iran.

The agreement covers deals with more than a dozen U.S.

defense companies in areas including air and missile defense,

air force and space advancement, maritime security and

communications, the fact sheet said. The Saudi prince said the

deal included investment opportunities worth $600 billion,

including deals worth $300 billion that were signed during

Trump's visit.

"We will work in the coming months on the second phase to

complete deals and raise it to $1 trillion," he said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for U.S. arms.

Reuters reported in April the U.S. was poised to offer the

kingdom an arms package worth well over $100 billion.

"I really believe we like each other a lot," Trump said

during a meeting with the crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto

ruler.

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia had discussed Riyadh's potential

purchase of Lockheed F-35 jets, two sources briefed on

discussions told Reuters, referring to a military aircraft that

the kingdom is long thought to have been interested in.

It was not immediately clear whether those aircraft were

covered in the deal announced on Tuesday.

Trump, who was accompanied by U.S. business leaders

including billionaire Elon Musk, will go on from Riyadh to Qatar

on Wednesday and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday.

He has not scheduled a stop in Israel, a decision that has

raised questions about where the close ally stands in

Washington's priorities, and the focus of the trip is on

investment rather than security matters in the Middle East.

"While energy remains a cornerstone of our relationship, the

investments and business opportunities in the kingdom have

expanded and multiplied many, many times over," Saudi Investment

Minister Khalid al-Falih said.

"As a result ... when Saudis and Americans join forces very

good things happen, more often than not great things happen when

those joint ventures happen," he said before Trump's arrival.

Trump told the investment forum that relations with Saudi

Arabia will be even stronger.

He was shown speaking with Riyadh's sovereign wealth fund

governor Yaser al-Rumayyan, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, and Falih as

he toured a hall that showed off models for the kingdom's

flashy, multi-billion-dollar development projects.

Trump called the Saudi crown prince a friend and said they

have a good relationship, according to a pool report from the

Wall Street Journal, adding that Saudi investment would help

create jobs in the U.S.

BIG INVESTMENTS

Business leaders at the investment forum included Larry Fink,

the CEO of asset management firm BlackRock ( BLK ); Stephen A.

Schwartzman, CEO of asset manager Blackstone; and Treasury

Secretary Scott Bessent.

Musk chatted briefly with both Trump and the crown prince, who

is otherwise known as MbS, during a palace reception for the

U.S. president. Top U.S. businessmen including Musk, the Tesla

and SpaceX chief, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined Trump for a

lunch with MbS.

MbS has focused on diversifying the Saudi economy in a major

reform program dubbed Vision 2030 that includes "Giga-projects"

such as NEOM, a futuristic city the size of Belgium. Oil

generated 62% of Saudi government revenue last year.

The kingdom has scaled back some of its ambitions as rising

costs and falling oil prices weigh.

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. have maintained strong ties for

decades based on an ironclad arrangement in which the kingdom

delivers oil and the superpower provides security in exchange.

Trump left Israel off his schedule, although he wants Israeli

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a new ceasefire

deal in the 19-month-old Gaza war.

Israel's military operations against Hamas in Gaza and

Hezbollah in Lebanon, and its assassinations of the two

Iran-allied groups' leaders, have at the same time given Trump

more leverage by weakening Tehran and its regional allies.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators met in Oman at the weekend to

discuss a potential deal to curb Tehran's nuclear program. Trump

has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.

Trump told the investment forum he wants to offer Iran a new

and better path toward a more helpful future. If no new nuclear

deal is reached, he said, Tehran will face maximum pressure.

Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said last week he

expected progress imminently on expanding accords brokered by

Trump in his 2017-21 first term under which Arab states

including the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco recognised Israel.

Trump said it was his "fervent hope" that Saudi Arabia would

soon sign its own normalization agreement with Israel, adding,

"But you'll do it in your own time."

Still, Netanyahu's opposition to a permanent stop to the war in

Gaza or to the creation of a Palestinian state makes progress on

similar talks with the Saudis unlikely, sources told Reuters.