President Donald Trump is in Saudi Arabia for the first leg of his three-nation visit to the Middle East this week. His first visit is focused on dealmaking with a key Mideast ally while shared concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and the war in Gaza drag on in the background.
In a speech earlier Tuesday, Trump urged Iran to take a “new and a better path” as he pushes for a new nuclear deal and said he wanted to avoid conflict with Tehran.
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Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, warmly greeted Trump as he stepped off Air Force One. The pair signed a host of economic and bilateral cooperation agreements.
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What senators are saying as Schumer vows to hold up Justice Department nominees over Qatar plane
Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, of South Dakota, declined to give a direct opinion on Trump possibly accepting a free plane from Qatar to replace Air Force One, but he said that if it happens, “I can assure you there will be plenty of scrutiny.”
Democratic Sens. Brian Schatz and Richard Blumenthal, both of Hawaii, went to the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon and tried to force a vote on a resolution disapproving of the Qatari gift.
“It really should go without saying, but no president should be accepting a $400 million gift from a foreign country,” Schatz said. “It is gross, it is reckless, it is corrupt, and the outrage and condemnation especially on the Republican side should be universal.”
The vote was blocked by Republican Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who said Democrats are “losing their mind over the situation” and the gift is not a done deal. He said that if the Qatari government does donate the plane, “the only thing we should say is ‘thank you.’”
US-China deal to slash tariffs eases burden on cheap packages
Online shoppers in the U.S. will see a price break on purchases valued at less than $800 and shipped from China after the Trump administration reached a truce with Beijing over sky-high tariffs.
In an executive order Monday, the White House said the tariffs on low-value parcels originating from China and coming through the U.S. Postal Service will be lowered to 54%, down from 120%.
It also says a flat rate charged as an alternative to the value-based tariff will be kept at $100 per package, rather than being raised to $200 on June 1 as previously decreed.
The new rules go into effect Wednesday.
▶ Read more about the deal
Mexican security chief confirms cartel family members entered US in a deal with Trump administration
Mexico’s government has confirmed reports that 17 family members of the son of a former cartel leader crossed into the United States.
Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Tuesday that it appeared to be part of a deal between the Sinaloa Cartel’s Ovidio Guzmán López and the Trump administration.
Independent journalist Luis Chaparro reported over the weekend about Guzmán Lopez’s relatives. The family flew from Sinaloa to Tijuana and crossed on foot to San Diego, California. Guzmán López is a son of former Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
▶ Read more about what Mexico’s security chief confirmed
Federal judge OKs use of Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans who are labeled gang members
A federal judge says Trump can use the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan citizens who are shown to be members of the Tren de Aragua gang.
The ruling Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Stephanie Haines in Pennsylvania appears to be the first time a federal judge has signed off on Trump’s proclamation calling the gang a foreign terrorist organization and invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport those labeled as being members.
At least three other federal judges have said Trump was improperly using the 18th century wartime law to speed up deportations.
▶ Read more about the judge’s ruling
How to impress a US president? Spin up a fighter jet escort for Air Force One
Saudi Arabia didn’t even wait for Trump to land before it set out to impress him in a sky-high way.
As Trump flew into Riyadh on Tuesday, Air Force One received a ceremonial escort from six Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s as it approached the kingdom’s capital — an exceptionally rare sight.
Margo Martin, a White House official, posted video of the escort online, declaring, “Saudi F-15’s providing honorary escort for Air Force One!”
The Royal Saudi Air Force has the world’s largest fleet of F-15s after the U.S. Air Force.
Trump’s new pardon attorney says he will scrutinize Biden’s final pardons
The Justice Department’s new pardon attorney says he plans to scrutinize pardons that former President Joe Biden issued on his way out of the White House.
During his last day as acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin Jr. told reporters on Tuesday that he will take a “hard look” at Biden’s pardons once he starts his new job as pardon attorney and director of the “weaponization working group” at the Justice Department.
Biden pardoned his siblings and their spouses on his last day in office. None of them had been charged with any crime.
The pardons were designed to guard against possible retribution by Trump.
▶ Read more about the scrutinized pardons
Palestinian UN ambassador welcomes Trump’s visit to region and hopes for ceasefire deal
Riyad Mansour said Tuesday that he hopes Trump’s trip to the Middle East will prove fruitful for the ongoing, devastating war between Israel and Hamas.
“We hope that President Trump’s visit to the region will allow to achieve such a ceasefire, and to build a political horizon of freedom for the Palestinian people, security for all and shared prosperity for our region,” Mansour said during a U.N. Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Also on Tuesday, Antoine Renard, the U.N. World Food Program’s director for Gaza, told The Associated Press that a quarter of Gaza’s population is at risk of famine. That’s despite all the food needed to feed the territory’s population sitting in warehouses in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan — and most of it is not even 25 miles (40 kilometers) away, he said.
Overhauling Qatari plane as a secure flying White House would take years, leading Democrat says
Trump is failing to take into account how much of an overhaul a Qatari-offered plane would need to serve as Air Force One — or how long that would take, U.S. Sen Jeanne Shaheen says.
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says it would be better for Trump to wait for Boeing to finish an American-built replacement for the aging current versions
Air Force One needs secure communications, ability to refuel in the air, a state-of-the-art surgical center and other attributes the free plane that Qatar has offered Trump won’t have, Shaheen said.
“And by the time you did all that, the plane’s going to be ready from Boeing anyway, or the president’s going to be out of office,” she said.
After even after all that, Shaheen says there’s no practical way to be sure any gift plane from a foreign government is secure. She added that regardless, accepting such a gift would be unconstitutional and corrupt.
20 Democratic attorneys general sue Trump administration over conditions placed on federal funds
A coalition of 20 state Democratic attorneys general say the Trump administration is threatening to withhold billions of dollars in transportation and disaster-relief funds unless states agree to certain immigration enforcement actions.
The attorneys general filed two federal lawsuits Tuesday.
According to the complaints, both Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have threatened to cut off funding to states that refuse to comply with Trump’s immigration agenda.
An official with the Department of Homeland Security said the lawsuit will not prevent Trump from “restoring the rule of law.”
The Department of Transportation did not respond to an email seeking comment.
▶ Read more about the lawsuits
Trump wants ‘the most impressive plane’
While flying to Riyadh on Air Force One, Trump sat down for an interview with Sean Hannity, one of his biggest boosters on Fox News. The president defended his efforts to accept a donated replacement plane from Qatar, which is the second stop on his Middle East trip.
He noted that Arab nations have brand new Boeing 747s.
“And you see ours next to it, this is like a totally different plane. It’s much smaller, it’s much less impressive, as impressive as it is,” Trump said, according to excerpts released by Fox News.
He added that “with the United States of America, I believe that we should have the most impressive plane.”
Trump also said there’s no reason to avoid accepting a donated plane from Qatar.
“My attitude is, why wouldn’t I accept a gift?” he said. “We’re giving to everybody else, why wouldn’t I accept a gift?”
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince gives Trump a lavish royal welcome
Three years after Joe Biden’s cursory greeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump luxuriated in an extravagant royal welcome as he arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
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.
The crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, has been eager to rehabilitate his global image after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence officials accused him of ordering. He’s 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.
▶ Read more about Trump’s royal welcome
Did Trump help get late MLB player Pete Rose reinstated?
Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson were reinstated by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred on Tuesday, making both eligible for the sport’s Hall of Fame after their careers were tarnished by sports gambling scandals.
Manfred discussed Rose with Trump when the pair met in April, but he hasn’t disclosed specifics of their conversation.
Trump has said he intends to pardon Rose posthumously, though it’s not clear what that would entail.
Rose entered guilty pleas on April 20, 1990, to two counts of filing false tax returns. He had agreed to a permanent MLB ban the year prior after an investigation concluded Rose repeatedly bet on the Cincinnati Reds as a player and manager of the team, a violation of a long-standing MLB rule. He died Sept. 30 at age 83.
▶ Read more about Rose’s reinstatement
US Democratic senator praises Trump’s announcement that the US will move toward lifting sanctions on Syria
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen praised Trump’s announcement that the U.S. would move toward lifting sanctions on Syria in a bid to help a new interim government there that says it’s trying to pull the country out of years of war.
The sanctions were initially imposed on Syria’s previous Russia- and Iran-allied leader, Bashar Assad, whom the U.S. and others punished for brutality during Syria’s long civil war. A rebel coalition overthrew Assad late last year.
“We have a real opportunity I think in Syria,” after Assad’s overthrow, Shaheen told reporters.
She said it is important to “provide the opportunity” to keep postwar recovery in Syria moving in a way that keeps Russia and Iran from regaining influence there.
Will Putin show for talks with Zelenskyy? A leading Senate Democrat bets not
The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says she expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a no-show at planned Ukraine ceasefire talks in Istanbul on Wednesday.
Asked Tuesday if she thought Putin will attend Wednesday’s session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, said, “No.”
“If Putin doesn’t show up, that’s a reinforcement of the message that he’s done everything he can to slow-walk these negotiations,” Shaheen told reporters.
It also would be another sign that the U.S. must increase pressure on Russia to engage in serious talks to end its invasion of Ukraine, Shaheen said.
Critics have accused the Trump administration of shifting the onus of concessions in the war to U.S. ally Ukraine, while supporting Putin’s demands in the war. Senior Trump officials are scheduled to attend Wednesday’s talks in Turkey.
Trump finishes his day in Riyadh at a state dinner
No media was allowed inside. Reporters are usually invited in to witness toasts from the leaders, but not this time.
The president will attend another state dinner on Wednesday in Qatar, the next stop on his Middle East trip.
US Sen. Lindsey Graham visits Turkey to meet with officials to ‘assess the situation in Syria’
Trump has said he will ease sanctions on Syria and move to normalize relations with its new government. Trump is set to meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
In a statement, Graham said certain conditions should be met before the U.S. lifts a designation listing Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism. He said the administration would need to “submit a report to Congress on how circumstances have changed.”
The Republican senator from South Carolina said he is “inclined to support sanctions relief for Syria under the right conditions” but said the U.S. must remember that the Syrian government “achieved its position through force of arms, not through the will of its people.”
Israel carries out strike on Gaza hospital
The Israeli military said it had carried out a strike targeting what it said was a Hamas “command and control center” beneath a hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.
The strike on the European hospital was the second one Tuesday on a hospital in the city.
The bodies of six people who were killed in Tuesday afternoon’s strike were taken to Nasser hospital, where AP reporters saw the bodies.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel struck Nasser hospital, saying militants were operating inside it, without identifying them. Two people, including a journalist who was targeted in an earlier strike, were killed.
Iran state television barely mentions Trump’s visit
While Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia is making global headlines, Iranian state television largely ignored the trip in its latest news bulletin.
The network did not include the visit in its top stories and briefly mentioned it only in the second half of its coverage, noting that Trump had signed oil and technology agreements with Saudi officials and that Riyadh had pledged to invest in the United States.
House Republicans look to help Trump strip tax-exempt status of nonprofits he says support terrorism
Language added Monday to a reconciliation bill from the House Ways and Means Committee would allow for terminating the tax-exempt status of groups the administration deems “terrorist supporting organizations.” Some nonprofits say that would create an arbitrary standard to financially punish charities that advocate for issues that don’t align with Trump’s agenda.
The language mirrors a bill from the last Congress that passed in the House but did not pass the Senate. Both the previous bill and the new one face concerns from a variety of groups.
The provision would create a new way to strip tax exemptions granted by the IRS to charitable organizations.
▶Read more about the proposal.
Trump’s final event in Riyadh will be at the birthplace of the first Saudi state
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, is set to fete Trump with an opulent state dinner Tuesday evening at Ad-Diriyah.
The UNESCO heritage site is the birthplace of the first Saudi state and the site of a major development project championed by the crown prince.
It’s set to be Trump’s final event of the day in Riyadh.
UN welcomes easing of US sanctions on Syria
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday that the easing of sanctions on Syria “is a positive development, inviting a broader investment” in the country.
The lifting of sanctions will help the reconstruction of Syria and “help the Syrian people recover from more than a decade of conflict, a decade of underinvestment,” Dujarric said. It will put more of a focus “on economic development, on private businesses and investment.”
The United Nations will continue to support Syria’s reconstruction, whether it’s physical or psychological, “for it to be a country where all Syrians of all faiths, of all ethnicities and minorities feel safe and represented.” Dujarric said.
Trump says he’ll ease sanctions on Syria
In his remarks before investors, Trump said he will move to normalize relations with Syria and lift sanctions on its new government to give the country “a chance at peace.”
Trump said the effort at rapprochement came at the urging of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de facto ruler, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“There is a new government that will hopefully succeed,” Trump said of Syria, adding, “I say good luck, Syria. Show us something special.”
▶Read more about sanctions on Syria
Sirens sound in Israel
Sirens sounded from what the Israeli military said was a missile fired from Yemen. The military said it intercepted the missile.
The announcement came minutes after Trump ended his speech in Riyadh, his first major address of his Mideast tour, during which he criticized the Houthi militant group in Yemen.
Sirens could be heard in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
‘YMCA’ blares as Trump wraps his speech at Saudi investor conference
The late 1970s song by the Village People is a staple of Trump’s campaign rallies.
He spoke for about 50 minutes, addressing regional and global concerns, before wrapping up. Trump smiled and shook hands with the crown prince before leaving the stage.
Trump says potential talks between Ukraine and Russia in Turkey ‘could produce some pretty good results’
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be among top U.S. officials traveling to Turkey for talks Thursday on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Trump said he’s been working “relentlessly” to end the bloodshed.
“We’ll see if we can get it done,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he’ll be waiting for Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul.
Putin has not said whether he will show up.
Trump says people of Gaza ‘deserve a much better future’
Trump said during his address in Riyadh that he was working to end the Israel-Hamas war as quickly as possible.
Criticizing Hamas, he said that improving Palestinian lives in Gaza “cannot occur as long as their leaders choose to kidnap, torture and target innocent men and women for political ends.”
“The way those people are treated in Gaza,” he said, “there’s not a place in the world where people are treated so awful.”
Trump also lauded his administration’s negotiations to return Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who Hamas released from captivity Monday.
Joining Abraham Accords would be a major policy shift for Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia long has maintained that recognition of Israel is tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state along the lines of Israel’s 1967 borders. Under the Biden administration, there was a push for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel as part of a major diplomatic deal.
However, the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel upended those plans and sent the region into one of the most diplomatically fraught periods it has faced.
The Abraham Accords in Trump’s first term saw both Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel. Morocco and Sudan also had their own deals.
Trump denounces interventionist foreign policy
Trump lauded Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries for “developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions, and charting your own destinies in your own way.”
“In the end, the so-called “nation-builders” wrecked far more nations than they built — and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies they did not understand,” the U.S. president said.
Trump says America is ‘rocking’
Trump talked about his economic, immigration and other policies before getting to the heart of his speech at a Saudi investor conference.
He touched on steps his administration has taken to crack down on illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border, boasted that recruitment into the military is higher and declared that trade negotiations with the United Kingdom and China have been fruitful.
He did not mention his tariff policy, which upended global markets in April before he changed course.
Trump said he was sharing an “abundance of good news from a place called America,” and added: “We are rocking.”
Trump calls Mohammed bin Salman an ‘incredible man’
Trump lavished praise on the Saudi crown prince and his family in the first address of his Mideast trip.
Speaking to a large crowd at the Saudi-US investment forum, he called the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia a “bedrock of security and prosperity.”
Claps, cheers and whistles for Trump and the Saudi crown prince
The crowd is exuberant. Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American” played as Trump joined Mohammed bin Salman on stage.
The crown prince spoke first, at a podium underneath a massive chandelier with the American and Saudi flags emblazoned behind him. Trump watched with earbuds for translation in his ears. Then he stood in front of a giant Saudi flag on a big screen as Greenwood’s song played. The audience of Saudis in traditional red-and-white checkered headscarves and robes recorded the moment on their phones as Trump swayed to the music.
Trump pushes in Saudi Arabia speech for a new nuclear deal with Iran
Iran and the United States have held multiple rounds of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing program. They come after Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, setting the stage for years of tensions and attacks across the wider Middle East.
While Gulf Arab states felt anger toward President Barack Obama for striking the deal without involving them in their minds, now the countries of the region have been pushing for de-escalation as tensions remain high over the Israel-Hamas war.
Trump to meet with Syria’s Ahmad al-Sharaa, the former insurgent who led Assad’s overthrow
The U.S. once offered $10 million for information about the whereabouts of the insurgent formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani. He had joined the ranks of al-Qaida insurgents battling U.S. forces in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 and still faces a warrant for his arrest on terrorism charges in Iraq.
Syria’s new president came back to his home country after the conflict began in 2011, and led al-Qaida’s branch that used to be known as the Nusra Front. He later changed the name of his group and cut links with al-Qaida before they finally succeeded in overthrowing Bashar Assad in December.
Musk warmed up the crowd for Trump and the crown prince
With Trump and Prince Mohammed running over 45 minutes late to the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, billionaire Elon Musk suddenly came out on the stage as almost a warm-up act for the leaders.
Musk said he showed Tesla robots off to the two leaders.
“In fact one of our robots did the Trump dance,” Musk said, drawing laughter.
Musk also said Saudi Arabia had approved Starlink internet service for “maritime and aviation use.”
Senate Democratic leader say’s he’ll hold up Justice nominations until he gets answers on plane
Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that Trump’s plan to accept Qatar’s donation of a 747 to replace Air Force One “is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat.”
Schumer wants the DOJ to investigate whether Qatari foreign agents in the U.S. could benefit Trump or his business. He also wants to know how security measures will be built into the plane and how it will paid for.
The holds means the Senate can’t quickly confirm any Justice nominations, such as U.S. attorneys, which are often approved by voice vote.
“Until the American people learn the truth about this deal, I will do my part to block the galling and truly breathtaking politicization at the Department of Justice,” Schumer said.
Republicans line up against Trump accepting Qatari 747 for Air Force One
1. “It would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America. That would be ideal.” — Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.
2. “I don’t think it looks good or smells good.” — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
3. “Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and US can be bought. If this were Biden, we would be furious.” — Trump’s first-term UN ambassador Nikki Haley, posting on X Tuesday morning.
Trump has bristled at suggestions that he should turn down the plane, comparing the potential gift to favors on the golf course. “When they give you a putt, you pick it up and you walk to the next hole and you say, ‘Thank you very much,’” he said.
▶ Read more about the controversy over Qatar gifting Trump a 747 for Air Force One
Trump now says he won’t fly the Qatari 747 after his term ends
For Trump, accepting a free Air Force One replacement from Qatar is a no-brainer: Saying “No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane,” would make him a ”stupid person,” he told reporters.
Trump tried to tamp down some of the opposition by saying the $400 million plane would be donated to a future presidential library, but that hasn’t quelled the controversy. Democrats are united in outrage, and even some of the Republican president’s allies are worried.
Critics of the plan say it could turn a global symbol of American power into an airborne collection of ethical, legal, security and counterintelligence concerns.
Cheaper gas prices a boon for Trump
Saudi Arabia and fellow OPEC+ nations have already helped their cause with Trump by stepping up oil production. Trump sees cheap energy as key to lowering costs and stemming inflation for Americans, and to hastening an end to the Russia-Ukraine war.
But Saudi Arabia’s economy remains heavily dependent on oil, and the kingdom needs a fiscal break-even oil price of $96 to $98 a barrel to balance its budget. How long OPEC+ will keep production elevated — Brent crude closed Monday at $64.77 a barrel — is questionable.
“One of the challenges for the Gulf states of lower oil prices is it doesn’t necessarily imperil economic diversification programs, but it certainly makes them harder,” said Jon Alterman, a senior Middle East analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Trump says he and Saudi crown prince like each other “a lot”
Trump offered the assessment as he and Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader held talks at the Royal Court in Riyadh.
He called Mohammed bin Salman a friend and said they’d developed a good relationship. He spoke about visiting Saudi Arabia in 2017 on the first foreign trip of his first term in office.
Trump has said he decided to make Saudi Arabia his first official overseas stop again because of the kingdom’s promise to invest $600 billion in the United States — and then he joked that the Saudis could bump it up to $1 trillion.
“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said.
US officials tell families of Israeli hostages they will accept nothing less than everyone’s return
Witkoff and the Trump administration’s envoy for hostage affairs have told the families of hostages still held in Gaza that they will do what is needed to bring everyone home.
The two officials are next traveling to Qatar to join Trump there. Qatar has been a key mediator during the 19-month Israel-Hamas war.
Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, said they wouldn’t be traveling to Qatar if they didn’t think there was a genuine chance for progress in negotiations.
Freed American-Israeli hostage says he feels weak but is OK
Edan Alexander has spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“It’s crazy. It’s unbelievable,” Alexander said about his freedom in remarks released by Netanyahu’s office.
Asked how he feels, Alexander answered: “Ok, weak, but slowly we’ll get back to what we were before.”
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff then got on the call and Netanyahu expressed his gratitude to the U.S. president for helping to free Alexander.
There were reports Alexander was going to meet Trump in Qatar this week, but a statement from the hostage forum, which represents the families, said he won’t be flying there. The family is in continuous contact with the Trump administration, it said.
Netanyahu says there is ‘no way’ Israel will halt its war in Gaza as Trump tours Mideast
The Israeli prime minister says that any ceasefire deal with Hamas would be temporary.
Netanyahu’s statement came ahead of Trump’s visit to the Middle East, which did not include a stop in Israel.
Netanyahu said that if Hamas were to say it would release more hostages, “we’ll take them, and then we’ll go in. But there will be no way we will stop the war.”
Israel says 58 hostages remain in captivity, with about 23 of them said to be alive.
Trump's Mideast envoy meets families of Israeli hostages
The U.S. special Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff met privately with families of the hostages in Tel Aviv’s Hostage’s Square on Tuesday.
Witkoff said he met with Edan Alexander, the Israeli-American soldier released Monday, and that he was an “incredibly resilient young man.”
Hamas released Alexander who had been held hostage in Gaza for more than 19 months, offering a goodwill gesture toward Trump that could lay the groundwork for a new ceasefire.
Witkoff said negotiations for a more lasting ceasefire have begun, and that he hopes more hostages could be released soon. “We’re working on it,” he said.
Dozens of people stood in the Square and chanted “Bring them home now!”
Witkoff also spoke with and embraced Ruby Chen, whose Israeli-American son, Itay Chen, was abducted to Gaza and later pronounced dead. His body is still held in Gaza.
Saudi investment minister praises US-Saudi relations
Khalid al-Falih spoke at a Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum ahead of Trump’s arrival in Riyadh.
“Our bilateral relationship is one of the world’s most significant geostrategic bonds, with economic cooperation and business partnerships at its core, and serves as a force for peace and global prosperity,” he said.
He reiterated a pledge by the Saudi crown prince to see investment in the U.S. of $600 billion over the next four years.
Iran is mostly quiet about Trump’s trip as it negotiates with US over the nuclear program
Previous trips by U.S. presidents to the kingdom have drawn comments about Saudi Arabia being “milked” by the Americans for oil and dollars for military sales.
But this time, Iranian newspapers and state television largely are not discussing Trump’s trip in detail.
The quiet may be due to the fact Riyadh and Tehran have been in a Chinese-mediated detente since 2023. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, a brother to the Saudi crown prince, also traveled to Tehran in a high-level visit unthinkable in recent years of tensions between the two Mideast rivals.
Hussein Ibish, an analyst at the Washington-based Arab Gulf States Institute, said Saudi Arabia’s economic development projects at home means the kingdom wants peace across the region.