A previous arms deal agreed during Trump’s first term in 2017 between Saudi Arabia and the also promised a big headline figure. At the time, the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the deal included "an immediate $110 billion investment" which would "grow to $350 billion over the next 10 years".

Shara, who once led a branch of Al Qaeda, was the first time in 25 years that the leaders of the United States and Syria had met.

P resident Donald Trump announced on Tuesday, May 13, that he plans to end the U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria, which have been in place for over 45 years. Announcing the news on the first day of his Middle East tour, during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum, Trump said he would be lifting sanctions “in order to give them [Syria] greatness.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will lift long-standing sanctions on Syria that severed the country from the global financial system under toppled former President Bashar al-Assad.

Saudi Arabia is an important U.S. ally in the Middle East. However, the ascension of Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, colloquially known as MBS, to the political forefront in Riyadh initially stretched U.S.-Saudi relations to the limit.

"We want to want to be sure that he is not a terrorist anymore," senior Israeli official told Newsweek of Syria's Ahmad al-Sharaa.

An end to U.S. sanctions on Syria is expected to mark a new era for an economy devastated by 13 years of war, opening the way for investment flows from the Syrian diaspora, Turkey, and Gulf states that back the new government.

Donald Trump's visit to the Middle East is certainly sending shockwaves across the region, as the president outlines his vision for vision for relations between the United States and Arab states.

Trump was the first US president to make an official state visit to Qatar, and the stop culminated in a trade deal.

One of the strategic thrusts of the opening months of Trump’s second terms has been aimed at deepening America’s economic engagement with the leading economies of the Gulf. Thus, the first leg of his trip to the region resulted in a template for deeper US-Saudi ties.

Five months after its liberation from the police state of Bashar al-Assad, Syria sometimes looks like a country in civil war. Sectarian clashes have turned into street battles with rockets and mortars.