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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

President Trump Gets Royal Welcome In Saudi Arabia. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired May 13, 2025 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Tuesday, May 13th, just about 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we'll be seeing three primary countries. You know all about that. Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: From the kingdom's perspective, it's time to secure greater privileges in their relationship.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: He does not believe in rules and laws and norms. He thinks if you can get a free plane, as he said today, why wouldn't you do it? You wouldn't do it because it's a bribe.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: The overarching theme of Combs' defense strategy is going to be that all of these relationships were consensual.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: We're not here to talk about him being bad. We're here to talk about him being a criminal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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SOLOMON: All right. We begin this hour with President Donald Trump's trip to the Middle East, his first major overseas trip since the start of his second term. Right now, he is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he received a royal welcome greeted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the tarmac. We do expect to see him again shortly, beginning to participate in state royal ceremonies there, a coffee and a tea ceremony.

Of course. We will bring you those live pictures and provide analysis once it happens. But several Trump administration officials say that the president's top priority is obtaining economic agreements, with a focus on trade and the focus on investment. President Trump will also head to the UAE and Qatar later this week.

With him on the trip are the secretaries of state, defense, treasury and commerce and the White House chief of staff. This comes as the Trump administration helped secure the release of the release of Israeli American hostage Edan Alexander. We're going to have more on that straight ahead.

But for now, let's welcome in, CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein live for us in Riyadh.

And, Betsy, as I said, we're sort of awaiting these royal ceremonies to take place. Give us a sense of what we can expect to see today from the president.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, we should expect some of that pageantry, the pomp and circumstance that President Trump really enjoys. He is very aware of the stagecraft and mindful of the imagery that comes out of these presidential trips. And we already saw them roll out a purple carpet for the president with a 21-gun salute as he arrived at the airport just moments ago.

And then he was greeted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and they retreated to the airport for coffee and tea ceremony. President now on his way to the royal court, where, according to pool reporters, he is going to roll over a live grass carpet in the motorcade passed Arabian horses with riders carrying U.S. and Saudi flags.

So again, what we see here is just as important as some of the messaging that is conveyed, at least to President Trump. He has really worked to cultivate close ties with the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who has really emerged as a key mediator in this conflict between Russia and Ukraine, something that's become a key priority for President Trump and, of course, has proven elusive so far.

But this is really after the crown prince saw ties to the U.S. largely isolated after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi back in 2018. But on the agenda today, we will see that more formal arrival ceremony just moments from now and introduction of the delegations, a lunch with CEOs, really some very notable American names on this list provided by the White House. The CEOs of OpenAI, Amazon, Nvidia, Palantir, Uber, Coca-Cola, Google, Boeing and others, as well as Elon Musk, who is there in his official capacity, according to a White House official, as the CEO of SpaceX, Tesla and X.

Now, the countries that President Trump is visiting on this trip, these are not traditional U.S. allies Saudi Arabia, the UAE, as well as Qatar. The president really is echoing a trip that he made during his first term to the Middle East. He also took his first major international trip to Saudi Arabia. He also made a stop in Israel back in 2017.

Now, notably, there will be no stop to Israel on this particular trip, and I think that really underscores where we are in geopolitics right now and the way that the president has really reimagined the role of the U.S. in the world and key U.S. alliances. But it's really an opportunity for him to notch a couple of economic wins. He's expected to announce some key investments in the U.S. and also highlight deepening partnerships with these countries.

Now, Rahel, something that is really notable is not just what is said, but what is unsaid. Of course, the specter of Iran looming very large over this trip. Fourth round of talks between the U.S. Iran -- you know, Oman was characterized as encouraging. There are plans to move forward.

Of course, that is something that President Trump's counterparts here in the Middle East will really be pressing him on. For specific details, as well, as they'll probably talk about instability in the economy as a result of the presidents tariff policies, as well as the issue of human rights here in Saudi Arabia and the country's record on women, as well as the president's business dealings in the region. Of course, the Trump organization has major real estate deals in each of these three countries.

So, we'll be watching all of that quite closely. Of course, not likely to come up in any of the public statements, but we will be seeing, as I mentioned, all of this very extensive imagery as the president arrives just moments from now, the royal court.

SOLOMON: Yeah, Betsy, it's a great point. It's what's said, but it's often what's unsaid in these meetings. Thank you. We're going to come back to you when the president does arrive at the royal court. Betsy Klein, we'll see you soon, thank you.

In the meantime, the president is defending his decision to accept a luxury jet as a gift from Qatar's royal family.

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TRUMP: I think it's a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer -- I mean, I could be a stupid person saying, no, we don't want a free, very expensive airplane. But it was -- I thought it was a great gesture.

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SOLOMON: President Trump plans to use the new Boeing 747 to replace an aging Air Force One after it is retrofitted. The unprecedented move raises substantial ethical and legal questions, and some U.S. lawmakers are calling the gift a, quote, bribe.

A former presidential adviser also sounding the alarm.

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AXELROD: The issue with Donald Trump is he does not believe in rules and laws and norms. He thinks there for suckers. And he thinks if you can get a free plane, as he said today, why wouldn't you do it? You wouldn't do it because its a bribe. And they're trying to buy influence.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SOLOMON: Okay, let's get to Middle East analyst and former Pentagon Middle East adviser, Jasmine El-Gamal, who joins us live this morning from London.

Jasmine, appreciate you being here.

I want to pick up on something our correspondent, Betsy Klein, just said there about the importance of what is said at these meetings, but what isn't said and who isn't being visited and what's not on the table, the Israel of it all.

What are you watching?

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, MIDDLE EAST ANALYST: Right. Well, thank you so much for having me, Rachel.

I think this is a really important point. And I think it just goes to show how far out of step Prime Minister Netanyahu is with this Trump administration when it comes to how to deal with the region and the regions issues.

You know, you see this White House really interested in security in the region. You see them wanting to look at positive, forward leaning things like investment, mutually beneficial deals, taking advantage of the wealth and the potential of the region, especially in the Gulf countries.

Whereas Prime Minister Netanyahu only offers conflict. He doesn't want to end the war in Gaza. He's dragged his feet on ceasefires for months and months. He's not interested in making deals.

He's attacking Syria. He's not willing to engage in talks with his -- with his neighbors. He's very aggressive towards Iran.

And that's just not in step with the mood or the intentions of the Trump administration. And I think that you've seen the president become more and more frustrated with that.

And the messages that he's getting from the Arab states is completely different. It's filled with opportunity. It's filled with optimism. And I think that's where the tide is shifting. And Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn't seem to want to get onboard.

SOLOMON: And filled apparently with deals. I mean, how much of that is sort of driving the motivation here and what we might see in these next few days?

EL-GAMAL: I mean, look at what has been look at what has been accomplished just in the last few days and what we expect to be accomplished this week. You had Hamas releasing the last living U.S. hostage, Edan Alexander.

You had another reportedly fruitful meeting with Iran that lasted over three hours. Both sides said that it was positive.

You have these immense deals that are expected to be announced coming out of this trip. You have President Trump showing up with the heads of the top tech and banking -- tech companies and banks. And, you know, there's this real -- and if you listen to people in Riyadh right now, whether it's analysts or people attending these conferences, there's such an air of opportunity and excitement. And it's a very, very different mood than what the prime minister of Israel is offering.

So I think you're seeing this real shift, and I think it's really notable also to look back to the last time President Trump visited Saudi Arabia, it was also his first international trip during his first term.

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But if you look at the difference between the two trips, the one in the first term was very focused on issues of security.

They inaugurated a global center for combating extremism. Donald Trump spoke to the -- to the Muslim world. It was very focused on security issues, really viewing the region through the lens of problems, whereas now it's completely different. You're seeing it in the -- in the lens of economic opportunity, of investment as an equal partner on equal footing. And I think that's really notable.

SOLOMON: And, Jasmine, what do these other nations gain from -- from this visit? I mean, economic deals, economic cooperation as we've pointed out, is something that's really important on the American side. But what does this what does Saudi Arabia gain? What does the UAE, Qatar gain from these visits, and importantly, the first sort of international visit, you know, barring, of course, the pope's passing from the American president?

EL-GAMAL: Well, these are countries -- I mean, when you look at -- so you have the Gulf countries and then you have other countries in the region that have been going through a lot of trouble, a lot of conflict, and they want to move forward from that.

So, for example, the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who's really trying to do a lot of outreach to the U.S. administration, wanting to meet with Trump, wanting to show him that he's onboard with this vision of prosperity and security that's included in the Saudi vision 2030. The Qatari and UAE visions, of course.

These are countries that want to invest and want to grow. They want tech. They want A.I. They have a very young population.

You know, the population in the Middle East is very, very young. And so, there's a lot of opportunity for growth and potential. And so, these countries are trying to harness that potential, work with the U.S. on these mutually beneficial deals.

The U.S. invests in their countries. They want chips. They want data centers. They want to invest in the U.S.

They want to, you know, obviously, these are countries that have been huge buyers of U.S. defense industry, weapons and other such things in the defense industry.

And so, you really see this convergence of mutual interests and a mutual vision towards prosperity and security in the region. And that is why you have seen Saudi Arabia, for example, MBS, being so active in trying to mediate conflicts in the region, trying to mediate conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

There's this air of let's move past conflict and let's move towards this security, this prosperity. And I think Trump is onboard. So, it will be a very interesting visit in that sense.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And I'm curious, Jasmine, as we watch these live pictures, I believe, of Arabian horses, if I'm not mistaken. And the president's arrival, if I'm not mistaken. And. of course, we'll bring that to you just as soon as we get that confirmation.

But talk to me about the message this sends to other nations around the world. I mean, essentially what you have here. And this is something that my guest in the 4:00 a.m. hour was essentially kind of getting at is the new world order, where relationships with the -- with the U.S. right now are built more on the potential for opportunity, the potential for deals, and maybe not so much shared values.

And so, what signal does that send to other nations who may have something to offer, even if they don't necessarily govern their nations in the way that the U.S. does?

EL-GAMAL: That's such an excellent question. And I was just talking about this with some friends last night, actually. I mean, the Trump administration has made it very clear that their worldview is about interests, and it's about what they can gain. It's about what they can get for the U.S. economically and not so much about shared values and shared interests.

And you really see this in the tensions and the rift between the U.S. and Europe, where the administration sees Europeans as -- in their words, not mine -- freeloaders. They're taking and taking. What are we getting out of it? Where they look at other countries, especially these Gulf countries who really have, you know, have found the perfect approach to Donald Trump, which is, you know, no problems. We want to fix things, and we want to make money together. You know, that's really the message that resonates with him.

They know that well. And they've been -- they've been really driving that home, that mutual benefit -- mutually beneficial relationship sort of thing.

That's what the Trump administration is looking for. It's not going to be about shared values or interests, for better or for worse. I mean, obviously, I'm not saying, you know, that's an entirely positive thing.

But one thing we know is that the Trump administration is very clear about how they see the world. And that provides a really clear roadmap for other countries on how to deal with this administration and how to find that mutually beneficial path forward with the U.S. administration.

SOLOMON: No, it's a really interesting point.

And, Jasmine, if I can keep you a little bit longer as we look at these live pictures and presumably the American president will exit the vehicle in the motorcade momentarily.

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So, we'll continue to watch.

But let's talk over these pictures as we do.

What are you going to be listening for? I mean, it is really striking to me, just the pageantry that is on display that, you know, the royal red carpet that sort of just stretches as far as the eye can see. The pomp, the circumstance that these state visits often entail. This time, of course, happening in Riyadh.

Your observations as we look at the president exit, the vehicle there, shake hands with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. Your observations as we watch these pictures. And I think the president is wearing a purple tie. If my monitor doesn't betray me here.

But your observations, looking at these pictures. It's quite a sight to behold. Something we'll certainly be talking about for years to come I think. Your thoughts?

EL-GAMAL: Listen. I mean, obviously, I think Trump loves this right now. I mean, the Saudis really know how to put on a show. And, you know, all this pomp and circumstance. I'm watching it right now as we're talking. I mean, this -- this is -- I mean, he loves this stuff.

And so, you know, he's coming in. I think he's riding on a wave of success when it comes to dealing with the region and dealing with the region's issues. Like I said, you have the Iran file that's supposedly going well. You have the release of Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage. You have these deals that are about to be made. I mean, there's so much promise.

Obviously, not all of it is good. I mean, you mentioned earlier with your correspondents some trouble that Trump is having at home with things like the gift from Qatar, the plane that's going to be re- outfitted Air Force One.

But right now, I think really -- I really do agree with you that I think we're witnessing a very significant moment and a very significant shift when it comes to relations between the U.S. and the Arab world. I think it's very different from the administration really did see the region very much through the lens of Israel, Israeli security, tying everything to normalization with Israel, insisting long past the time when that deal was dead, that normalization was going to happen, and really refusing to see the region for what it was, a region of opportunity. And I think that that's what we're seeing now. We're seeing that

opportunity start to bear fruit, and the region starting to be viewed as a partner, not just as a problem. That needs to be fixed.

SOLOMON: Uh-huh. Jasmine, if you might just stand by for me for one moment, I want to also bring in our senior White House reporter, Betsy Klein, who is traveling with the president. She's in Riyadh. Also looking at these live pictures.

Betsy, give me a sense of your observations here. As we -- as we watch this, this pageantry that is really sort of a sight to behold in this pomp and circumstance on display there.

Your thoughts?

EL-GAMAL: That's exactly right. I mean, it is a literal and figurative red carpet. Of course, it's a royal purple red carpet. And this is something that is very important to President Trump. He really finds that this kind of pageantry very important. He's a former reality TV star. He's very cognizant of what it looks like on TV.

But we also saw, you know, back in 2017 when President Trump was here in Saudi Arabia for the first trip of his first term. They really made him feel welcome. They projected his likeness on the side of the Ritz Carlton here in Riyadh.

And as even here in Riyadh today, if you drive from the airport to the royal court, there are American and Saudi flags all along the highway overpasses, just an overwhelming effort by the Saudis here to welcome President Trump. And as jasmine was discussing, really an effort to shore up this key alliance for the Middle Eastern countries with the United States and really welcome him.

These leaders are trying to flatter the president, and they are going to be generous and hospitable. They want to make deals. They want to not criticize him and really treat him and his family as potential business partners.

As I mentioned earlier, the Trump organization has real estate projects in all three of the countries the president is going to be visiting. So really a very notable moment here. And you can see the president and crown prince walk inside. Of course, again, so much pageantry here and really trying to make the president feel important and welcome.

And this is something that he really enjoys, the pageantry that goes into a state visit.

SOLOMON: You can see it. To your point, Betsy, you can also hear it. And let's take a moment to listen to it sort of at full volume, the event of the ceremonies taking place right now.

(INAUDIBLE)

[05:20:05] SOLOMON: Here, we're obviously listening to sort of the ambient sound there, the nat sound there. We can see MBS and the president speaking. We can't quite hear what they are discussing.

Jasmine, do I still have you?

Jasmine, I'm curious as we as we look at these pictures and you were just speaking about this. Betsy was just speaking about this, how important these visuals are for the president, how significant the pomp and circumstance are for the president, and how that may be used perhaps to his benefit domestically.

I'm curious, though, are the human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, the Jamal Khashoggi incident -- are those just sort of faded from memory? Or is this a new day figuratively and the issues of the past with Saudi Arabia, are now forgotten? I'm curious how you see that.

EL-GAMAL: Right. I mean, look, obviously, these things that you're talking about are really grave issues, right? I mean, you know, none of these issues should be -- should be forgotten or swept under the table.

But I think that what we've seen is a -- is an attempt, you know, by Saudi Arabia to move past its past, if you will, and try to be a helpful partner in the region, try to be a partner for peace. They have been really instrumental in trying to help Syria turn a new page. They've been instrumental in trying to lower tensions between different actors in the region. Like I said, also with Russia and Ukraine.

You know, I don't know that a past can ever be forgotten, but I certainly think that we can see a move and a shift that is more positive leaning. And I think also, you know, look, I mean, the hard truth is that I don't think the Trump administration and really even the Saudis -- the Biden administration before that really prioritized the issue of human rights. You know, when it came to the region.

I mean, the -- you know, these unfortunately, are not always issues that are at the top of the U.S. foreign policy list of things. When you look at values versus interests, this has always been a controversial issue when it comes to U.S. foreign policy. But I think that what you're seeing right now is just this attempt by all parties, really both parties, I should say, both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, as well as other countries in the region, to finally come together and try to move forward away from a painful past, away from problems, away from conflict.

You know, they want stability. This is something that the majority of countries in the region can agree on now. And I think that's a positive thing. I think any move in the right direction is a positive thing.

And I think the fact that were seeing all of the countries in the region, you know, there are going to be several other Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia meeting with, Donald Trump. I mentioned, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who I believe is going to be there, at least wanted to be there.

There's this real push to try to turn a page and move towards something more positive. And I can't help but think that that's a good thing.

SOLOMON: And does that -- does that also reflect what's happening on the ground there? I mean, we know, and I've spoken to many guests over the past year or so about the push from within the kingdom to, you know, attract tourists and their plan to sort of become a tourist destination and an economic destination.

And I'm curious if that -- if that is changing perhaps more progressive views if you want to call it that, on the ground in terms of some of the rights for women there or just some of the human rights challenges in the past. Are you seeing changes on the ground there, would you say?

EL-GAMAL: Yeah, look, by all accounts, the, you know, Saudi Arabia is changing and has been changing. I mean, if you go to Saudi Arabia now versus five, 10, 15 years ago, it's a completely different place. I mean, anyone that you talk to that has been there, that has experienced what it has to offer, says that it's a completely different place and that things are changing.

You know, women don't have to cover up. Women are driving. Not all of them. There are still -- you know, there are still a lot of issues that Saudi Arabia has to work on. We can't get around that fact.

But what you see on the ground is that things are changing. Things are shifting, maybe not as entirely completely as people want to see, but they are changing in the right direction. And one would hope that with continuing opening up to the world, with continuing relaxing of certain restrictions, with continued outside investment -- I mean, that's something that investment does, right, with foreign countries. You do -- and you do investments. You know, the country opens up, you start to see progress, you start to see progressiveness. All of these things we are seeing.

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And so, I would hope that we continue to see that further opening up with all of this investment, all of the opportunities, all of the exchanges in people, in culture that are happening, that we see something con -- that we see these things continue to evolve and that we see these issues that you're raising continue to be better and better.

SOLOMON: And, Jasmine, if you can still see your monitor, it appears that the president, some of his secretaries, it looks like he's surrounded by his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on his other side, his secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.

I'm struck as we look at this picture of the president and MBS of just how cordial, how friendly, how warm this conversation appears to be. I'm curious your sort of observations as we look at this very stately event, but what appears to be a very casual, very warm, fluid conversation. Your thoughts?

EL-GAMAL: I was just going to say that. I was just going to add the word "relaxed" to your descriptions. Look how relaxed Donald Trump looks. I mean, when do we see him looking this relaxed and at ease?

Like I said, the Saudis know how to welcome. You know, there is a very famous Arab hospitality that's on display here. But I also think, look, I mean, this is not a new relationship. You know, this is -- this is a long-standing relationship.

Donald Trump's son-in-law, and again, this comes with its positives and negatives, because I don't want to be painting everything in an extremely positive picture here, as to be unrealistic. But this is a long-standing relationship between the two men, between their families.

Jared Kushner famously has a very close relationship with MBS. Jared Kushner was reported to have been really helping set the scene for the president ahead of this trip. Talking to Arab countries, to U.S. partners in the Gulf, trying to set the stage for a successful visit, you know?

And this -- obviously, I used to work at the Pentagon, and I can tell you that the advance work that's done before any big diplomatic trip can really make or break a trip. And you can tell that there's been a lot of advance work done to make sure that this trip goes smoothly, that everyone knows where everyone else stands, that they know what's going to come out of it, that they know what's planned.

And that's part of why they look so relaxed, right? They know what's going to happen. They know it's going to be positive. They know they're both going to walk away from this with good news, to sell to their people, to the region, in terms of investments, in terms of stability, all of these things that we've been talking about that Betsy was mentioning as well.

And so, I think that's why you see everyone so relaxed and cordial is because they know that this is going to be a very positive visit.

And like I said, I don't really want to, understate how important this visit is for just a shift in the way the U.S. deals with the region and sees the region as a partner, finally, not as a problem to be solved.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Jasmine, stand by, if you might. I want to bring in Betsy here.

Betsy, I'm not sure if you have a monitor up and you can sort of see in the bottom left hand corner, we're looking at the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, no longer at this shot, and I believe he was talking to Susie Wiles there.

Earlier, we saw sort of a row of what looked like American executives. I mean, I saw Elon Musk, I believe Elon Musk. Elon Musk was the CEO of Nvidia, if I'm not mistaken. Betsy, give us a sense of who was also there and the impact and the

significance of these heavy hitter American executives who are also essentially beside the president as he participates in this royal visit.

KLEIN: Well, I think it just really underscores how much has changed for President Trump since his first term. He is joined here at this lunch with CEOs by really a who's who of American business leaders, the leaders of OpenAI, of Amazon, Nvidia, Palantir, Uber, Coca-Cola, Google, Boeing. Also, Elon Musk, as you mentioned, who is there in his official capacity as the CEO of SpaceX, X, and Tesla, the White House telling us that he's not there as a senior advisor to the president on this particular trip.

But these are business leaders that really, in a lot of ways, kept their distance from the president during his first term and have made significant efforts to embrace him after his really resounding 2024 victory.

So, we are seeing them there. Join the president on this trip for this luncheon with Saudi, other top Saudi business leaders as well. It's going to be really interesting to watch how they all interact together.

Another notable name that's going to be at this luncheon is Dina Powell. She was a top Trump adviser in the national security council during the president's first term. She is there now in her capacity as a business leader.