00:00U.S. President Donald Trump will arrive in Saudi Arabia tomorrow for his first official visit
00:05since he took the office for the second time. A multitude of issues are expected to be discussed,
00:11including the ongoing Gaza conflict, economic cooperation, and the current geopolitical
00:16environment. For more, we'll go to Luqman Harris in Riyadh.
00:22Yes, indeed. This sweltering 40-degree Riyadh heat is only matched by the suspense
00:27caused by the impending arrival of U.S. President Donald Trump to Saudi Arabia tomorrow.
00:33Saudi Arabia, of course, again becomes the first country of choice for Trump to visit as President,
00:39as we have seen during his first term as U.S. President, signifying the close diplomatic,
00:45military, security, and also symbolic relationship between these two countries.
00:50But those issues that you've mentioned just now are, I guess, a sign of the bigger power play
00:55that we are seeing here. Of course, what Saudi Arabia and the U.S. wants to get out of this meeting
01:02between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, MBS, and President Trump is that Saudi Arabia is set to want
01:08legitimacy and U.S. support for its leadership role within the Middle East, especially with recent
01:15conflicts and increased volatility in the region. U.S., in the meantime, would also want a look to counter
01:21the numerous strategic alliances and partnerships set to have been offered to Saudi Arabia by its rivals,
01:27including China and Russia. And, of course, some of the issues you mentioned just now,
01:31the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the general volatility in the Middle East involving Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
01:38Iran, and also, of course, Israel will also be very much on the table to be discussed here.
01:43As of this point, due to security reasons, of course, we do not know much about what's going to be discussed
01:47or the logistics aspects of it. What we do know is that President Trump's Air Force One will touch down
01:54in Riyadh tomorrow. He will be here for two days, not just meeting MBS and dignitaries of the Saudi
02:00Royal Government, but also members of the Gulf countries. So, a lot of things that are at play here,
02:07a lot of things that will be discussed that will not only shape the future of the Middle East and the U.S.,
02:12but also the world at large. And, of course, everything will be brought to you here from Riyadh by me
02:17on channel 501, astroawani.com, and also Awani International. We will have much more coming up
02:24in the next few days. Stay tuned. For now, back to the studio.
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