Golden swords and Arabian horses: Saudi Arabia's crown prince gives Trump a lavish royal welcome

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fist bump seems so long ago.

Three years after Joe Biden’s cursory greeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Donald 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.

“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said as they sat on golden chairs under elaborate chandeliers in the royal palace. During a speech later in the day, the president described Prince Mohammed as an “incredible man" and “my friend.”

The feeling was clearly mutual. The crown prince addressed his guest as “my dear President Trump," and the Saudis played his campaign anthems — “God Bless the U.S.A.” and “ YMCA ” — during his appearance at an investment forum.

For the U.S. Republican president, the visit was a return to the international stage after his comeback election victory (Exactly one year ago, he was on trial in a hush money case and listening to his former lawyer testify against him in a New York City courtroom.)

Although Trump recently attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, Saudi Arabia was originally intended to be his initial overseas destination, just like in his first term. It served as a gilded debut for a foreign policy focused on securing cash infusions for American businesses.

Trump pumped his fist as he stepped out of Air Force One, then descended the stairs to shake hands with Prince Mohammed, who greeted his guest on the tarmac in a rare display of respect.

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.

The guest list for an elaborate luncheon was stuffed with corporate executives, including Ruth Porat of Google, Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, Jane Fraser of Citicorp, Alex Karp of Palantir and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA. Also attending was Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and a top adviser to Trump.

As Air Force One approached Riyadh, Saudi pilots in six American-made F-15 fighter jets escorted the plane. After a traditional coffee ceremony inside the royal terminal at the airport, Trump's limousine was flanked by riders on white Arabian horses carrying American and Saudi flags. A honor guard was lined up with golden swords.

(Missing from the visit was the orb, a glowing sphere a little bigger than a bowling ball that Trump memorably posed for photos with during his trip to Riyadh in his first term.)

Trump has downplayed traditional American alliances in Europe, and often expressed exasperation with the country's trading and defense partners. But there was no such hesitation in Riyadh, and he said the relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia “has been a bedrock of security and prosperity,”

Biden received little of the same pomp when he visited three years ago. He had previously criticized Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” but decided to travel to the kingdom anyway in an implicit acknowledgement that it was too influential of a global player to ignore.

The crown prince greeted the Democratic president at the palace, which is where the two leaders exchanged their fist bump. Their only other joint public appearance was all business, as they sat across from each other at a large conference table, flanked by top advisers.

Later that year, OPEC+ announced it would reduce oil production in a blow to Biden, whose political fortunes were being battered by inflation. The Democratic president acknowledged that it was “a disappointment, and it says that there are problems” in the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

But there was no such friction during Trump's visit. In his speech, the president flattered Saudi Arabia for its economic development and suggested that foreign leaders shouldn't be "giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs.”

"You achieved a modern miracle the Arabian way," Trump said.

Prince Mohammed, sitting in the audience, placed his right hand on his heart and beamed.

Members of a traditional Saudi honor guard with their golden swords wait for the arrival of President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during an arrival ceremony at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk during an arrival ceremony at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Saudi Air Force F-15 warplanes escort Air Force One carrying President Donald Trump as it arrives in Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump walks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during an arrival ceremony at the Royal Terminal of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump, left, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, center, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles speak at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gesture as they meet delegations at the Royal Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powellsaid Sunday the Department of Justice has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony this summer about the Fed’s building renovations.

The move represents an unprecedented escalation in President Donald Trump’s battle with the Fed, an independent agency he's repeatedly attacked for not cutting its key interest rate as sharply as he prefers. The renewed fight will likely rattle financial markets Monday and could over time escalate borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans.

The subpoenas relate to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, the Fed chair said, regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project Trump has criticized as excessive.

Here's the latest:

Stocks are falling on Wall Street after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Department of Justice had served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony about the Fed’s building renovations.

The S&P 500 fell 0.3% in early trading Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 384 points, or 0.8%, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%.

Powell characterized the threat of criminal charges as pretexts to undermine the Fed’s independence in setting interest rates, its main tool for fighting inflation. The threat is the latest escalation in President Trump’s feud with the Fed.

▶ Read more about the financial markets

She says she had “a very good conversation” with Trump on Monday morning about topics including “security with respect to our sovereignties.”

Last week, Sheinbaum had said she was seeking a conversation with Trump or U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio after the U.S. president made comments in an interview that he was ready to confront drug cartels on the ground and repeated the accusation that cartels were running Mexico.

Trump’s offers of using U.S. forces against Mexican cartels took on a new weight after the Trump administration deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Sheinbaum was expected to share more about their conversation later Monday.

A leader of the Canadian government is visiting China this week for the first time in nearly a decade, a bid to rebuild his country’s fractured relations with the world’s second-largest economy — and reduce Canada’s dependence on the United States, its neighbor and until recently one of its most supportive and unswerving allies.

The push by Prime Minster Mark Carney, who arrives Wednesday, is part of a major rethink as ties sour with the United States — the world’s No. 1 economy and long the largest trading partner for Canada by far.

Carney aims to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports in the next decade in the face of President Trump’s tariffs and the American leader’s musing that Canada could become “the 51st state.”

▶ Read more about relations between Canada and China

The comment by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson came in response to a question at a regular daily briefing. President Trump has said he would like to make a deal to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous region of NATO ally Denmark, to prevent Russia or China from taking it over.

Tensions have grown between Washington, Denmark and Greenland this month as Trump and his administration push the issue and the White House considers a range of options, including military force, to acquire the vast Arctic island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an American takeover of Greenland would mark the end of NATO.

▶ Read more about the U.S. and Greenland

Trump said Sunday that he is “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela after its top executive was skeptical about oil investment efforts in the country after the toppling of former President Nicolás Maduro.

“I didn’t like Exxon’s response,” Trump said to reporters on Air Force One as he departed West Palm Beach, Florida. “They’re playing too cute.”

During a meeting Friday with oil executives, Trump tried to assuage the concerns of the companies and said they would be dealing directly with the U.S., rather than the Venezuelan government.

Some, however, weren’t convinced.

“If we look at the commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today it’s uninvestable,” said Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company.

An ExxonMobil spokesperson did not immediately respond Sunday to a request for comment.

▶ Read more about Trump’s comments on ExxonMobil

Trump’s motorcade took a different route than usual to the airport as he was departing Florida on Sunday due to a “suspicious object,” according to the White House.

The object, which the White House did not describe, was discovered during security sweeps in advance of Trump’s arrival at Palm Beach International Airport.

“A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Sunday.

The president, when asked about the package by reporters, said, “I know nothing about it.”

Anthony Guglielmi, the spokesman for U.S. Secret Service, said the secondary route was taken just as a precaution and that “that is standard protocol.”

▶ Read more about the “suspicious object”

Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no direct reaction to Trump’s comments, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking to foreign diplomats in Tehran, insisted “the situation has come under total control” in fiery remarks that blamed Israel and the U.S. for the violence, without offering evidence.

▶ Read more about the possible negotiations and follow live updates

Fed Chair Powell said Sunday the DOJ has served the central bank with subpoenas and threatened it with a criminal indictment over his testimony this summer about the Fed’s building renovations.

The move represents an unprecedented escalation in Trump’s battle with the Fed, an independent agency he has repeatedly attacked for not cutting its key interest rate as sharply as he prefers. The renewed fight will likely rattle financial markets Monday and could over time escalate borrowing costs for mortgages and other loans.

The subpoenas relate to Powell’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee in June, the Fed chair said, regarding the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of two office buildings, a project that Trump has criticized as excessive.

Powell on Sunday cast off what has up to this point been a restrained approach to Trump’s criticisms and personal insults, which he has mostly ignored. Instead, Powell issued a video statement in which he bluntly characterized the threat of criminal charges as simple “pretexts” to undermine the Fed’s independence when it comes to setting interest rates.

▶ Read more about the subpoenas

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

President Donald Trump waves after arriving on Air Force One from Florida, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)