RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday held out Saudi Arabia as a model for a reimagined Middle East, using the first major foreign trip of his term to emphasize the promise of economic prosperity over instability in a region reeling from multiple wars.

Offering partnership to longtime foes, Trump said he would move to lift sanctions on Syria and normalize relations with the new government led by a former insurgent, and he touted the U.S. role in bringing about a fragile ceasefire with Yemen’s Houthis. But Trump also indicated his patience was not endless, as he urged Iran to make a new nuclear deal with the U.S. or risk severe economic and military consequences.

With his carrot and stick approach, Trump gave the clearest indication yet of his vision for remaking the region, where goals of fostering human rights and democracy promotion have been replaced by an emphasis on economic prosperity and regional stability.

Trump also made a pitch to Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords started in his first term and recognize Israel. And he envisioned a hopeful future for the people of Gaza — emphasizing they must first cast off the influence of Hamas.

“As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound,” Trump said as he laid out his outlook for the region in a speech at an investment forum.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler, welcomed Trump to the kingdom with royal flourishes and lavished attention on him at every turn. It was a stark contrast to the crown prince’s awkward fist bump in 2022 with then-President Joe Biden, who tried to avoid being seen on camera shaking hands with him during a visit to the kingdom.

Trump shows disdain for ‘nation-builders’ and interventionists

The Republican president made the case for a vision centered in pragmatism. It’s something he sees as a necessity for the U.S., which he believes is still feeling the ill effects of 20 years of “endless war” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“In the end, the so-called nation builders wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves,” Trump said.

Trump used the moment to extend an olive branch to Iran and urge its leaders to come to terms with his administration on a deal to curb its nuclear program. But he also warned that this opportunity to find a diplomatic solution “won’t last forever.”

“If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch … we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure, drive Iranian oil exports to zero,” he said.

The latest entreaty to Tehran comes days after Trump dispatched special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Iranian officials for a fourth round of talks aimed at persuading Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

Trump, in his speech, also said he hoped Saudi Arabia will recognize Israel “in your own time.”

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 worst periods it has faced.

Trump moving to restore relations with new leader of Syria

Separately, Trump announced he was lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria. He is expected to meet Wednesday in Saudi Arabia with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the onetime insurgent who last year led the overthrow of longtime leader Bashar Assad.

The U.S. has been weighing how to handle al-Sharaa since he took power in December. Gulf leaders have rallied behind the new government in Damascus and want Trump to follow suit, believing it is a bulwark against Iran’s return to influence in Syria, where it had helped prop up Assad’s government during a decadelong civil war.

Trump said calls from Gulf leaders as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shaped his surprise announcement.

“So I say, good luck, Syria, show us something very special like they’ve done, frankly, in Saudi Arabia,” Trump said.

Prince Mohammed carefully choreographed the visit as he looked to flatter Trump.

The de facto Saudi leader greeted Trump warmly as he stepped off Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport. The two leaders then retreated to a grand hall at the Riyadh airport, where Trump and his aides were served traditional Arabic coffee by waiting attendants wearing ceremonial gun belts.

The leaders signed more than a dozen agreements to increase cooperation between their governments’ militaries, justice departments and cultural institutions.

The crown prince has already committed to some $600 billion in new Saudi investment in the U.S. And Trump teased $1 trillion would be even better.

Fighter jet escort

The pomp began before Trump even landed. Royal Saudi Air Force F-15s provided an honorary escort for Air Force One as it approached the kingdom’s capital — an exceptionally rare sight.

Trump and Prince Mohammed also took part in a formal greeting and lunch at the Royal Court at Al Yamamah Palace, gathering with guests and aides in an ornate room with blue and gold accents and massive crystal chandeliers. As he greeted business titans with Trump by his side, the crown prince was animated and smiling.

Biden’s 2022 visit was far more restrained. At the time, Prince Mohammed’s reputation had been badly damaged by a U.S. intelligence determination that he had ordered the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal khashoggi.

But that dark moment appeared to be distant memory for the prince on Tuesday as he rubbed elbows with high-profile business executives — including Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — in front of the cameras and with Trump by his side.

Trump slammed Biden for “spurning” a “most trusted and long-standing partner.”

“We have great partners in the world, but we have none stronger and nobody like the gentleman that’s right before me,” Trump said of the prince. “He’s your greatest representative.”

Later, the crown prince feted Trump with an intimate state dinner at Ad-Diriyah, a UNESCO heritage site that is the birthplace of the first Saudi state and the location of a major development project championed by the crown prince.

Qatar and UAE next

The three countries on Trump’s itinerary — Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — are places where the Trump Organization, run by Trump’s two oldest sons, is developing major real estate projects. They include a high-rise tower in Jeddah, a luxury hotel in Dubai and a golf course and villa complex in Qatar.

Trump planned to announce deals at all three stops during the Mideast swing, initiatives that will touch on artificial intelligence, expanding energy cooperation and beyond.

.And Trump believes more deals with Saudi Arabia should be in the offing.

“I really believe we like each other a lot,” Trump said at one point with a smiling crown prince sitting nearby.

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Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

President Donald Trump’s administration is still working to exact his vengeance against at least one of the law firms he has targeted, even as several firms are fighting back in court — largely successfully so far.

The latest evidence of the administration’s efforts comes from a court filing Tuesday to the judge handling the case of WilmerHale, one of the firms that sued instead of settling or pre-emptively cutting a deal with Trump. The firm told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that two WilmerHale lawyers received letters from a government agency telling them their security clearances have been suspended.

“This development underscores that the Executive Branch stands ready and willing to implement the Executive Order absent judicial intervention,” attorney Paul Clementwho’s representing the firm, wrote. He didn’t specify which agency sent the letters but said he would provide them under seal to the court if the judge asked to see them.

“It also underscores the need for any permanent relief this Court may grant not only to restrain future implementation of the Executive Order, but also to redress actions already taken pursuant to it,” Clement wrote. He added that if Leon is going to block enforcement of Trump’s order against WilmerHale, then the judge should direct the government:

Leon previously issued a temporary restraining order in March against parts of Trump’s WilmerHale executive order, but not the part about security clearances, citing the deference owed to the executive branch. He held a hearing last month about granting further relief to the firm and is yet to rule. Trump’s executive order against WilmerHale cited, among other things, the firm’s connection to Robert Muellerwho worked for the firm before and after he served as special counsel investigating Trump during his first presidential term.

In a lengthy ruling this month blocking the order against another targeted firm that sued, Perkins CoieU.S. District Judge Beryl Howell discussed the security clearance aspect of the order in that case. Howell cited Trump’s similar order against a third firm, Paul Weiss, which did cut a deal with the president and got the order against it revoked.

“The speed of the reversal and the rationale provided in the Paul, Weiss Revocation Order, which focused only on agreements to advance policy initiatives of the Trump Administration,” Howell wrote“further support the conclusion that national security considerations are not a plausible explanation” for restricting security clearances.

The administration has similarly cited national security in defense of Trump’s WilmerHale order.

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Jordan Rubin

Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro,” a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined BLN, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.

This week, the Cannes Film Festival issued a new dress code forbidding “voluminous outfits” and “nudity” from the red carpet and theaters. Cannes is one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. It is also one of the most culturally impactful events of the year. The cultural cachet provided by walking Cannes’ red carpet rivals that of a film winning the coveted Palme d’Or.

Cannes’ dress code is notoriously strict. Black tie and evening wear are required for nighttime screenings at the Grand Théâtre Lumière. Women have been turned away from the Palais for not wearing a heeled shoe. Taken at face value, this new rule, particularly the nudity component, might look innocuous, obvious even. But it’s erasing artistic opportunity, particularly for women attendees.

This new rule, particularly the nudity component, might look innocuous, obvious even. But it’s erasing artistic opportunity, particularly for women attendees.

Cannes’ red carpet has featured many beautifully executed sheer (or “nude,” as Cannes new dress code would likely call them) dresses, including on actress Elle Fanning and model Bella Hadid.Given the cultural reorientation toward conservatism across the Western world — especially in America — this new dress code reeks of control. If you believe, like I do, that true fashion reacts to and then pushes the boundaries of culture, then the rise of nude dressing is obvious and predictable. Nude outfits are not just a red carpet staple, they’re in vogue everywhere. Walk the streets of Brooklyn or go anywhere in Los Angeles and you will see sheer maxi skirts paired with intentional underwear and moto boots. It’s been revelatory to observe such a defiant visual assertion of bodily autonomy.

While hardly the first to sport a “nude” dress on the red carpet, actress Rose McGowan caused a stir at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards by wearing a Maja Hanson Spring 1997 runway dress made of iridescent mesh, beaded strands with visible leopard print underwear. A photo of McGowan from that day has reached iconic status. She is looking over her shoulder directly into the lens of a camera and lifting her arms in defiance. In that photo, I saw strength; others did not.

McGowan has recalled in interviews the slut-shaming she endured for her 1998 red carpet fashion choice. Nearly two decades later, McGowan told activist and actress Jameela Jamil that she wore the dress for a very important reason: to take back control. “It was my first public appearance after being raped. And I thought, it was kind of like Russell Crowe and ‘Gladiator’ when he comes out in the ring and he’s like, ‘Are you not entertained?’ And that was why I did that. That was my response to being assaulted.” McGowan was one of the first voices to publicly and bravely speak out against convicted rapist and sexual predator Harvey Weinstein.

By all appearances, this new Cannes dress code appears to be, at least in part, a reaction to Bianca Censori’s viral moment on the Grammys red carpet in February. Censori, the 30-year-old wife of the disgraced rapper Ye (known as Kanye West), faced the wall and slowly slid a dark fur coat off her shoulders to reveal an entirely transparent dress. Ye stood next to her stone faced and silent in sunglasses, a black T-shirt and over-sized rubber boots. The moment created a frenzy on the internet. Much of the reaction was sympathetic: Censori looked withdrawn, vacant and exploited.

Censori has become known for rarely speaking and rarely smiling in public. She is photographed almost exclusively alongside Ye, wearing outfits that are neither particularly fashionable nor at all empowering. This context is crucial when confronting the difference between Censori and McGowan. The persona that Censori presents — presumably at Ye’s behest — is one of patriarchal control and imbalance. That’s how Censori’s “nude” dress reads.

But the artistic value of Censori’s dress is irrelevant. What matters is that we continue to exist in a world where Censori’s stunt and McGowan’s reclamation both remain possible.

Ultimately, Cannes’ new dress code is not a reaction to the direction of fashion, the contemporary nature of celebrity or the erosion of tradition: It is a mechanism of control over women. This isn’t a conversation about taste or style; it is a conversation about agency.

Hannah Holland

Hannah Holland is a producer for BLN’s “Velshi” and editor for the “Velshi Banned Book Club.” She writes for BLN Daily.