The UAE and Saudi Arabia are investing billions in US AI infrastructure. The deals could help the US in the AI race against China.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday had tea with a former jihadist who until recently had a $10 million US bounty on his head.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump opened his four-day Middle East trip on Tuesday by paying a visit to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for talks on U.S. efforts to dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, end the war in Gaza, hold down oil prices and more.

Before Trump began his visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, his sons Eric and Donald Jr. had already traveled the Middle East extensively in recent weeks. They were drumming up business for The Trump Organization, which they are running in their father’s stead while he’s in the White House.

President Donald Trump arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday to a royal-purple-carpet rollout and a motorcade ride ensconced by a calvary of Arabian horses – a daylong kickoff to the first major international trip of his second term.

Trump spoke in Riyadh, sharing his vision for a prosperous, stable Middle East focused on innovation without Western intervention.

President Trump is on his way to wrapping up a swing in the Middle East on Thursday as officials are expected to meet in Turkey to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war. Trump spent this week in Riyadh,

President Donald Trump signed a $600 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that includes a major defense contract and substantial investments in artificial intelligence—as U.S. business executives made their own set of deals at a conference in the backdrop of Trump’s visit to Riyadh, the first stop on his four-day tour of the Middle East.