The economic importance of the Middle East to Trump is highlighted by the fact that the visit to Saudi Arabia was due to be the first overseas trip of his second term in the White House. That was before the death of Pope Francis necessitated Trump attending his funeral in Rome towards the end of April.

President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, just hours after lifting all U.S. sanctions on Syria in a meeting that came with a personal pitch from the former jihadist-turned-head-of-state: oil rights and a proposed Trump Tower in Damascus.