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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Saudi Crown Prince Speaks as Trump Attends Gulf Summit; Trump Addressing Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 04:00   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 Wednesday, May 14th, 4 a.m. here in New York, and straight ahead on EARLY START.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are rocking. The United States is the hottest country, with the exception of your country, I have to say. Right?

I won't. I'm not going to take that on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is his pattern of behavior, not only as it relates to her, prosecutors will say, but as it relates to how he treated people in general.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Menendez brothers have failed to come clean with the full extent of their criminal conduct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because it's 50 to life they're immediately eligible.

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SOLOMON: All right let's start in Riyadh now. That's where the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as we see here, is welcoming leaders and officials from several Arab states at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council. President Donald Trump standing beside him there, expected to speak after the Crown Prince as he wraps up the first leg of his Middle East trip. Let's take a listen together.

Close eye on this, the president not taking questions at this point.

Let me bring in my colleague, Becky Anderson, who is standing by with us live in the region. Becky, give us a sense of what we can expect to hear from the president, who is expected to speak momentarily and what we've already heard from him since being in the region.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, CONNECT THE WORLD: Yes, and I think what we've already heard from him really very much sets up what we might expect to hear today. What you are seeing is images from the U.S. Gulf Summit, representatives from all six GCC nations together with Donald Trump, the U.S. president, and Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. The UAE represented by the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed.

And so what we know is that this is a meeting which will very much focus on regional issues as well as business issues, those regional issues extremely important to all six of those member states represented here today. It is all about regional de-escalation at this point. This is about getting a message and some serious sort of commitment from the U.S. on security, help with de-escalation around this region. This region, I'm told time and time again by leadership here, wants to see de-escalation. It wants to see economic integration. It wants to see the end of containment and maximalist approaches.

It wants to see the end of terrorism in this region. Rather than talking about chaos, it wants to talk about where it goes going forward. This is a really important region for -- and I'm talking about the Arabian Peninsula here, the GCC -- really important for what happens next or cascades throughout this region.

And let's be very specific. Ahead of this meeting yesterday, the big news from the U.S. president is that he will be lifting sanctions on the Syrian government and economy. Now, those sanctions were put in place during the Bashar al-Assad days on both the former president himself and on his government.

Those were sanctions which basically meant that nobody could do business with that country without getting sanctioned by the U.S. So that was an economy and continues to be an economy in complete collapse, impossible to pay civil servants' wages, the military's wages, the police wages.

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The country needs something like $400 billion, experts tell me, for reconstruction to get its economy back in shape.

And at the urging of or behest of the Saudi Crown Prince and indeed the Qataris, where I am here today in Doha, along with, as far as the U.S. president is concerned, the Turkish president, an enormous amount of pressure put on the U.S. president to turn a page on U.S. Middle East policy and lift those sanctions, giving Syria a chance for the future.

And the response, let me tell you, in Syria, the images that we've seen from the people of Syria have been quite remarkable. They reminded me of the images that we saw at the beginning of December, when it was clear that Bashar al-Assad, the autocrat who had run that country into such catastrophe, had left, had fled.

And once again, we saw cheers on the streets, we saw jubilation on the streets. And frankly, let's be quite clear about this, many, many people in Syria thanking Donald Trump for committing to the lifting of these sanctions and providing an opportunity for Syrians to have a future. What happens in Syria, we often say this, does not stay in Syria.

It has been a real flashpoint for conflict, not just in the country, but around the region. So that was more than a gesture from the U.S. president, as far as this region is concerned, to move things on. And this is a president, as we know, who's throwing the balls in the air, quite frankly, on so many files, both on his own America First policy, which he sees as a policy of economic and national security going forward, and it seems on his regional policy, getting into talks with the U.S. and Iran, and coming to an agreement with the Houthis in Yemen, talking to Hamas and negotiating the release of Edan Alexander, the last surviving American prisoner in Gaza. Many, of course, still held hostage there. Many Israelis still held hostage there, and the conflict continues.

So many in this region hope that we might hear something on Donald Trump's policy on Gaza going forward. And many people in this region suggesting at this point that it does appear, at least, on paper or in principle, that Donald Trump is sort of going it alone, not involving the Israelis, as he might have done and as U.S. administrations in the past would have done in his policy on the Middle East. There is talk that the hostage families will be here in Doha today to meet Donald Trump. Let's listen in to what's being said here.

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, SAUDI CROWN PRINCE (through translator): Majesties, Excellencies, Highnesses, the future we aspire to through achieving the sustainable development goals requires a stable and secure environment, and we are fully aware of the scale of the challenges facing our region, and we seek together with you, Mr. President, and in cooperation with our brothers in the GCC, to de- escalate tension in the region in the war in Gaza and find a lasting and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue in accordance with the peace initiative and relevant international resolutions, ensuring security and peace to the peoples of the region.

We also affirm our support to all efforts aimed at ending crises and halting conflicts. From this perspective, the kingdom will continue to encourage dialogue among the Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive political solution in Yemen.

We also continue our efforts to resolve the crisis in Sudan through the Jeddah platform through the Saudi American sponsorship. We affirm the importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic and stress the importance of supporting the efforts made by the Syrian government. In this context, we commend the decision made yesterday by President Trump to lift the sanctions on the brotherly Syrian Arab Republic, which will alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, open up a new chapter towards development and prosperity.

We affirm our support with the efforts led by the President of Lebanon and the Lebanese government to reform institutions, ensure that weapons remain solely in the hands of the state, and we welcome the ceasefire agreement between the Pakistan and India, and we hope that it will contribute to de-escalation and return of calm.

Regarding the Ukrainian crisis, we affirm the kingdom's readiness to continue efforts to reach a political solution to end the crisis in Ukraine, and we welcome the efforts of the President Donald Trump, who has shown deep interest in resolving this crisis.

Today's summit confirms our commitment to continued cooperation and coordination on regional and international issues based on our belief in the importance of establishing foundations of security and stability in the region and the world.

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In conclusion, we look forward to this summit contributing to achieving our shared goals to ensure growth, prosperity of our peoples and countries. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Now we give you the floor.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, all friends, as I said in my address last night, the Gulf nations are at the forefront of creating a stable, peaceful, and prosperous Middle East. And I have to say that I've seen such progress. It's really incredible.

I've also seen great unity and friendships. I spent a little time with you just before this, and I've seen tremendous unity, tremendous friendship, and the whole world is watching the Middle East, and many are watching with envy. You have something very special going on.

Incredible opportunities are within reach for this region. If we can simply stop the aggression from a small group of pretty bad actors, the Biden administration created havoc and Bedlam by basically being incompetent, but by empowering Iran and its proxies, sending them billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars, senselessly. I couldn't believe it to watch.

One of the reasons I said, let's do this again. But what they did was so bad, while turning his back on the Gulf allies. Those days are over.

Everybody at this table knows where my loyalties lie, always have. They'll never waver, never. And we'll stand with our friends and partners, and we'll confront the aggression that threatens us all.

I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something if it's possible. But for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars, and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

They cannot have a nuclear weapon. I don't imagine there's anybody at this table or anybody in this room that would say they can. I'm strongly urging all nations to join us in fully and totally enforcing the sanctions that I just placed on Iran.

And we also placed secondary sanctions, which are, in certain ways, even more devastating. Iran, as you know, had no money when I left office. They were broke.

They had no money for Hamas. They had no money for Hezbollah. There was no attack. There was no thought of attack. There would have been no attack if I were President. But bad things happened in that election.

And I said, let's do it again. And by doing it again, it became much more historic. It's a much more historic election, much more powerful election.

And we have a mandate. We won every swing state. We won by millions of votes. We won 2,750 districts. We call them districts. Out of a total, if you look at the numbers, 2,750 to 505. The whole map was red. Red meaning Republican.

So, I will say, recently we launched strikes on more than 1,100 Houthi targets in Yemen, as you know. And last week, they agreed to stop. They don't want to be targeting our commercial ships anymore. And they said, that's enough. That's enough. We've done about 52 days, 52 nights. It didn't end.

We just put in a budget of a trillion dollars. It's our biggest budget, military budget we have ever put in. And the United States is very, very strong right now. It's amazing. In a short period of time, we've been there 100 days. And in a short period of time, we've done what a lot of people don't do in four years.

We're a hot country, just like you're a hot area. And we're going to keep it that way. In Gaza, my administration shares the hope of so many in this region for future of safety and dignity of the Palestinian people.

But that cannot happen as long as Gaza's leaders take delight in raping, torturing, and murdering innocent people. Can't have it. I greatly appreciate the constructive role that the leaders in this room have played in trying to bring the terrible conflict to an end, including by helping secure the release of American hostage, Edan Alexander.

It was a big day yesterday, a very important day. I was told just before I left that they were going to be releasing Edan.

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We thought Edan was dead three weeks ago. They said Edan was no longer living. And it was a very, very good thing. Ultimately, all hostages of all nationalities must be released as a steppingstone to peace.

And I think it's going to be happening. A lot of things are happening. A lot of very positive things are happening on every front.

With the support of leaders in this room, and they're great leaders you are, we are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria's new government, as you know.

Beginning with my meeting with President Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Secretary Rubio's meeting with the Syrian foreign minister in Turkey. After discussing the situation with Crown Prince Mohammed and President Erdogan of Turkey, I am also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start. It gives them a chance for greatness. The sanctions were really crippling, very powerful.

And I spoke to Mohammed and I spoke to our friend from Turkey, who we just spoke to also, by phone now, but felt very strongly that this would give them a chance. It's not going to be easy anyway, so it gives them a good, strong chance. And it was my honor to do so. So we've we will be dropping all of the sanctions on Syria, which I think really is going to be a good thing.

And it actually, we made a speech last night, and that was the thing that got the biggest applause from the room. We had a very crowded room with thousands of people, and the statement that got the biggest applause was dropping the sanctions on Syria.

Likewise, in Lebanon, there is a new chance for a future free from the grip of Hezbollah terrorists. If the new President and Prime Minister can rebuild an effective Lebanese state. We just appointed a very good ambassador, a friend of mine who's Lebanese. And I didn't even know that.

And I said, why do you want to be the ambassador to Lebanon? That could be dangerous. He said, I don't care. I grew up there. I love the -- I love the country, and I don't care if it's dangerous or not dangerous. I want to do that. And he's very capable man, very successful man from the United States. And he's going to be your ambassador. He's going to be he's going to do a great job.

But this is a once in a generation opportunity to forge a Lebanon that is prosperous and at peace with its neighbors. And I think things can really happen there. That's they've been -- they've had a tough go of it for a long time. At the end of my first term, all of the momentum of this region was toward peace.

I especially want to thank and congratulate the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for their vision and courage in signing the historic Abraham Accords. It was something that's a very big thing. We would have -- I believe we would have had it filled out had the election been called fairly, which it wasn't. It was a rigged election.

I hope that in the near future we can continue that progress. We have a mandate from the American people, the likes of which people haven't seen for 129 years. They say it was the most consequential election in America in 129 years. So that sounds like a long time. So we'll take that.

But in the future, we'll continue that progress by adding more countries to the Abraham Accords. We have four and we're going to they're going to be -- I think they're going to be filling up very rapidly.

Biden didn't do anything because he never did anything about anything. He had no capability, had no ability. And it was a shame what he's done to so many countries, including our own.

We had an interesting fact. About a year ago, there was a story that we're having a hard time getting enlistments into the military, and it was at the lowest level almost ever. We just people didn't want to go into our military. And it just came out last week.

You probably saw that we have now the strongest enlistment in the history of our country. They say 38 years. One said 37, one said 32, and one said ever.

So we just had the strongest enlistment in the history of the United States of America. So think of it. In one year, we went from they can't get people to enlist to we have the strongest enlistment.

And that includes the police departments. We're having a hard time getting people to be police. The great law enforcement arm that we're known for and now we're setting records.

It's -- it's hard to get a job. I mean, frankly, the the lines of people wanting to be police officers and going to the military. And it's really it's a matter of spirit.

We have great spirit in the country right now.

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We've done a lot in 100 days. I'll tell you that it's all started on November 5th with the election, but a stable and peaceful Middle East will be a successful and prosperous Middle East. And that's what you've done. And that's what you're doing.

And, you know, it's amazing because when I was here last, it was fine. It was doing good. And then I see the things that you're doing here and in your countries, it's just an incredible what you what you're doing is the whole world is talking about it. The whole world is watching us. Look at all the news over there, the fake news.

Look at that. That whole world, the whole world is talking about what you're what you're doing. And you're the envy of the world.

Together, we're in this room and we're going to forge a Middle East that will be a thriving commercial, diplomatic and cultural crossroads at the geographic center of the world. That's what it is. It's the center of the world.

I look forward to working with you. And I want to thank Mohammed. I want to thank you, Crown Prince.

We have a special relationship. We have long had a special relationship. But it was an honor to spend a couple of days with you. And I'll see you again soon. And I'll see you a lot. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

ANDERSON: Right. You've just been listening to a speech by Donald Trump, the U.S. President, the U.S. Gulf Summit in Riyadh just before he leaves for Doha in Qatar, where I am. And he described the GCC leadership who are there as all friends.

He described the region as the geographic center of the world. He said, I've seen such progress, unity and friendship since I've been here. He said, many watch this region and alluding there to the Arabian Peninsula with envy. He said, many opportunities here if we can just stop the chaos.

The White House, as described by my colleague Steve Collinson in a really good piece for CNN Digital today, is emphasizing Trump's tour as primarily an economic mission. But as Stephen described it, the interlocking nature of U.S. economic and security policy very much emphasized both in Riyadh and here in Qatar when he arrives.

It's important just to note that Donald Trump there spoke to three or four really important files when it comes to regional instability here. In an effort to try and find some peace and security going forward for all of these nations, not just the Gulf nations, but the nations of the wider Middle East. It's important to note that the stop here will be for a country of Qatar, which is heavily involved in mediation efforts.

Let's talk about what we heard from Donald Trump on Syria. He said he was honored to lift the sanctions on Syria. He wants to give Syria a chance.

He also spoke about new sanctions and secondary sanctions on Iran, who he has issued a stark warning to in his speech yesterday.

He also spoke of hope for Lebanon. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Lebanon to see prosperity, he said.

And he also talked about the Abraham Accords. He said, I believe the historic Abraham Accords would have been extended had I, in his words, not had the election stolen in 2020, which, of course, is not true. That election was not stolen from him.

He went on to say, I hope in the future we can continue to see progress on those accords. Ahead of this trip, of course, Donald Trump had hoped to seal a deal on normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. That was taken off the table when it was clear that Saudi Arabia would not normalize relations with Israel until they saw a credible path to a Palestinian state.

So I think it's really interesting and important to underscore the importance of what we are hearing from Donald Trump here on this trip, not just on the business and investment deals that he is touting, some $600 billion, he said, going into the U.S. economy. From Riyadh alone, 2 million jobs, he said, would be created for the U.S. economy. The region here and very much those I've spoken to in Riyadh see those deals as very much bilateral.

There is a big economic ambition there, too. They need to see those deals in their own national interests, as do the Qataris, as we expect to see a big deal sealed here for Boeing jets. And then on to the UAE, where we expect to see A.I. and advanced technologies very much in focus. $1.4 trillion committed by the UAE in the U.S. economy over the next 10 years.

[04:25:00] But again, Abu Dhabi wants to see deals cut for Abu Dhabi that will work for the Abu Dhabi economy as well.

So very much looking at sort of bilateral economic moments, as well as very important regional developments. The question is, are we seeing the U.S. turning a leaf when it comes to its Middle East policy? Are we seeing efforts, at least in principle, to forge peace and prosperity going forward?

At least there are some creative ideas coming from the U.S. President. We will continue to drill down on what the detail of these ideas might be. Next stop, Doha, Qatar here in the next couple of hours.

We will see AF1, Air Force One touchdown here. As I say, the mediation file on Gaza, very important. I've had it confirmed to me today that there is an Israeli delegation here in Doha, as we speak, with Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler, who is the chief hostage negotiator.

He has famously been in direct contact with Hamas, and that led to the release of Edan Alexander, of course, the last living American hostage in Gaza.

Our coverage continues after this short break.

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