The Dictatorship
Trump in Saudi speech urges Iran toward a ‘new and a better path’ as he pushes for nuclear deal
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yet of his vision for remaking the region, where goals of fostering human rights and democracy promotion have been replaced by an emphasis on economic prosperity and regional stability.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.
___
Madhani reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Dictatorship
Lawsuit seeks to stop the UFC fight on the White House South Lawn for Trump’s birthday
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal lawsuit seeks to halt the upcoming UFC fight card on the White House South Lawn in a mixed martial arts show timed for President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The filing Saturday by the Public Integrity Project on behalf of two Virginia residents contends the Trump administration’s authorization of the June 14 event was unlawful. The lawsuit says such approval violated National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands, Congress did not consent to the towering arch overlooking the event space and no environmental review was conducted before the construction.
“This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain,” said Brendan Ballou, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”
The White House said in a statement that the legal challenge was “an obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory” attempt to prevent Trump from hosting the fight and that the event was “no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday.
Crews are erecting an octagon-shaped cage on the South Lawn. Trump has said the finished UFC project will feature “a 5,000-seat arena right outside the front door of the White House.” Additional large screens broadcasting the fights will be set up in a park at the nearby Ellipse, and the UFC has said it plans to issue as many as 85,000 free tickets to accommodate spectators at both locations.
The octagon and surrounding structures are the latest project in the White House building boom Trump is leading.
In an explosive interview with NBC aired Sunday, President Donald Trump cut the grilling short and left the set after peppering “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker with insults.
“You’re either crooked or you’re stupid,” Trump told Welker, who kept a cool demeanor despite the president’s barrage of disparaging slurs.
Moments before he attacked her, Trump — without providing any evidence — said he believes elections in the U.S. are rigged. Then he lambasted television news networks, singling out NBC, CBS and ABC.
“They’re crooked just like you’re crooked, your press is crooked. And ‘Meet the Press’ is crooked,” Trump said.
“To be fair, I’m not crooked,” Welker shot back. “But let’s continue.”
“Let’s call it quits because I’ve had enough,” the president told Welker, who is the second woman and first Black journalist to helm the network’s flagship program.
Trump added, “Thank you, darling. Have a good time.”
It was not the first time Trump has berated a female journalist on the job covering his presidency.
In November 2025, he told Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey to stop talking, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.” One month later, he told ABC’s Rachel Scott she was “the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place.” Last month, he called MS NOW White House reporter Akayla Gardner “a dumb person” for pointing out that the cost of his White House ballroom project had doubled since it was first announced.
He has also repeatedly lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collinscriticizing her for not smiling enough.
The wide-ranging interview, which was taped last week on a farm in Wisconsin, was interrupted by the loud sound of heavy rain on the metal roof of the barn where they met. Welker questioned Trump on his war with Iran, his “anti-weaponization” fund and the upcoming midterm elections.
On his nearly $1.8 billion fund aimed at compensating people who say they were wrongly prosecuted, including Jan. 6 Capitol rioters, Trump said “people were destroyed by dirty cops and by weaponization. Many of those people should be compensated.”
He described the people who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as people who were “being ushered into the building” by law enforcement.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the fund last month and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said last week the administration would not be moving forward with the fundwhich faced bipartisan backlash.
When asked if the administration would pursue other avenues to revive it, Trump said he does not know what will ultimately happen and called Welker and her network “the fake dirty press.”
Despite campaigning on a promise to end foreign wars, Trump denied that he made such statements. He characterized the Iran war, launched by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28, as necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
When asked about the rising cost of living as a result of the war, specifically gas and fertilizer, Trump chastised Welker.
“Are you ready? Am I allowed to talk? You keep asking questions and you don’t listen to the answers,” he said.
“I love the farmers and the farmers love me,” Trump said, adding that prices will come down after the war.
Welker suggested to her viewers Sunday that she and the president had a cordial conversation Saturday, saying they both “acknowledged the complications” posed by the rain. “He agreed to sit down with me for another ‘Meet the Press’ interview,” she said.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
Iran said visas were denied to key members of its national soccer team ahead of the World Cupwhich a U.S. official insisted was necessary so that Iran does not try to “sneak terrorists into the United States.”
In a post on Xthe Iranian embassy in Turkey said “visas were denied to a large portion of the managerial and executive staff, technical advisers, and others” on its team.
“You have now escalated the deliberate and discriminatory treatment against Iran’s national football team to its highest level,” the embassy said, accusing the U.S. of the “worst possible form of politically biased interference in sport” and “depriving Iran’s national team of its right to play in the World Cup under normal conditions.”
Iranian officials are accusing the U.S. government of violating FIFA regulations and breaching its obligations as one of the host countries of what is widely regarded to be the biggest sporting event in the world. The diplomatic standoff between the two countries comes just days before the World Cup is set to kick off and more than three months after the U.S. and Israel waged war against Iran.
A Trump administration official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the subject told MS NOW in a statement that the visas “necessary for Iran to compete in the World Cup, including for athletes and necessary support staff, have been issued.”
The official added, however, “We will not allow the Iranian team to abuse this system to sneak terrorists into the United States under false pretenses.”
The statement from the Iranian Embassy in Turkey came in response to a post on X by U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack praising embassy staff for processing visas for the Iranian national team.
According to The Associated Presssome of the team’s officials have not received visas to enter the U.S., which is co-hosting the World Cup with Mexico and Canada. Games are set to begin Thursday.
Problems with getting U.S. visas had already led Iran to move its World Cup training base from the U.S. to Mexico. But Iran is still listed on the official World Cup schedule to play its first two games in Los Angeles on June 15 against New Zealand, and against Belgium six days later before heading to Seattle to face Egypt.
The Iran Football Federation’s secretary-general and its vice president were among 14 staff and officials without U.S. visas, AP said, citing Iranian state television. The federation reportedly accused the U.S. of “vindictive behavior.”
Emily Hung contributed to this report.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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