Donald Trump is also pursuing his favorite pastime in the Middle East: a first deal has been concluded with Saudi Arabia. Accordingly, the USA is selling armaments and services on a historic scale: the keywords here are air forces, defense systems and border security.
US President Donald Trump is currently visiting Saudi Arabia – now arms deals worth 127 billion euros have been agreed with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh.
These are the “largest defense sales in history”, the White House announced. The Gulf state is to receive defense equipment and services from more than a dozen US companies. Among other things, this involves the modernization of the Saudi air force, defence systems and the protection of borders, sea routes and communication systems.
Coalition in the region
The USA is Saudi Arabia’s most important partner in security matters, primarily because the growing influence of Iran and the militias supported by Tehran are causing great unrest in the region and the USA is trying to respond to this with concrete military systems.
The Gulf state has already repelled several terrorist attacks with the help of the US military. The militaries of both countries also hold regular exercises together.
Historical deals
Arms deals were already making headlines in 2017, during Trump’s first term in office. The US government described the arms deal at the time, worth around 98 billion euros, as the “largest single arms deal in US history”.
Security agreement with Israel?
Riyadh has long been looking for even more comprehensive cooperation and protection from the US military. In return, the USA is urging Saudi Arabia to enter into a security agreement with Israel in order to normalize relations between the two countries.
According to the Stockholm-based peace research institute Sipri, Saudi Arabia is the largest recipient country of US weapons. However, there has recently been resistance in the US parliament, partly due to the kingdom’s involvement in the war in Yemen.
