As Air Force One heads towards Doha, let's look at some of Donald Trump's latest comments over his controversial decision to accept a $400m luxury jet as a gift from Qatar.

In an interview with Fox News yesterday, Trump said: "Now, some people say, 'oh, you shouldn't accept gifts for the country.' My attitude is, why wouldn't I accept the gift? We're giving to everybody else. Why wouldn't I accept the gift?"

Trump said he thinks "it is going to be a couple of years" before replacement planes ordered from manufactured Boeing are finished. He added they "will be wonderful when they are finished but that's a long time".

Sean Hannity asked the president if the gift had been offered because the US has "paid untold billions and trillions of dollars securing every aspect of the world".

“We’ve secured that part of the world for many years,” Trump replies before he said that the Qatari plane "helps us out because we will have a relatively new plane instead of having 40-year-old planes".

Image source, Reuters

Now President Donald Trump is on his way to Qatar, it seems like a good time to recap what has been happening today:

• Trump has met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh
• Trump urged Sharaa to normalise relations with Israel as he said he hopes Syria will play a pivotal role in trade between the Middle East and the West
• After the meeting, Trump posed for photographs with other Gulf nation leaders before attending the Gulf Cooperation Council Leader’s Meeting
• During the meeting, Trump said he 'wanted to make a deal with Iran' and how he wanted to create a 'thriving' Middle East

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Just before he departed Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was on the tarmac to wave Trump goodbye.

Well, more precisely, he was actually standing on a lavender carpet which Saudi Arabia often uses for ceremonies.

Judging by the smile on the bin Salman's face, it appears he is pleased with how Trump's visit has gone.

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

Following the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi Arabia, Trump is now on a short flight on Air Force One to Qatar for the second leg of his four-day tour of the Middle East.

He is set to be greeted by the Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at Hamad International Airport in Doha, before travelling to Amiri Diwan - the Qatari leader's official workplace - for a state visit.

This evening, he will attend a state dinner with Qatari officials at the Lusail Palace.

As mentioned earlier, we will be watching to see if the Qatari royal family follow through with the offer to gift Trump a luxurious plane to use for official travel.

Morgan Gisholt Minard
Reporting from Riyadh

Image source, Reuters

Riyadh was a setting that appealed to Donald Trump on multiple levels - not just his view of himself as the ultimate deal-maker, but of a man who relishes rubbing elbows with the most rich and powerful men in the world.

The lavish welcome from the Saudi delegation was standard for a US president, but would have thrilled him nonetheless. He’s a politician with a penchant for the televisual.

Trump has also had a long-time fascination with royal families - and the power that monarchy confers.

He has joked in the past about being the closest thing America has to a king, and he appears to be enamoured by the British Royal Family in particular. Meanwhile, the jet being offered by the Qataris to replace Air Force One has been described as a "Palace in the Sky". Fit for a king - or an American president.

Anyone who has seen Trump's newsy Oval Office appearances over the past three months can’t miss the ever-multiplying amount of ornate gilt-oil paintings and decadent embroidery in the storied room.

Between the Royal Palace here in Riyadh, and the opulent settings awaiting him in Doha and Abu Dhabi, Trump won’t feel out of place a bit.

President Donald Trump has now boarded Air Force One at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Next stop? Qatar.

Image source, AFP

In the last few moments the Syrian government has released a statement following the meeting between Donald Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa this morning. Here's a summary of their account of the meeting:

• An emphasis was placed on the importance of lifting sanctions imposed on Syria
• Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed the necessity to "achieve regional stability"
• Sharaa expressed his gratitude for regional and international support
• Discussions also included "avenues for Syrian-American partnerships in counterterrorism efforts" and "cooperation in eliminating the influence of non-state actors" including the Islamic State group
• A follow-up meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is to be scheduled

Change won’t come with the speed of Trump's penpublished at 10:44 British Summer Time 14 May

10:44 BST 14 May

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent in Riyadh

I will always remember the hotel receptionist in Damascus in December after the fall of the Assad regime. He told me, in tears, they didn’t even have enough room cards. "It takes weeks to order them from China," he said. "We need new friends."

In December, President Trump had made it clear the US had no interest in Syria.

Now he says Syria’s new allies, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, convinced him to lift punishing sanctions. It helps solidify their ambition to shape a new Syria, and benefit from an expected raft of reconstruction contracts.

Within weeks of taking power, Syria’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa had said Riyadh "has a major role in Syria’s future".

But change won’t come with the speed of the president's pen in Saudi.

"Some sanctions can be removed immediately using presidential waivers," comments Dina Esfandiary of Bloomberg Economics. "But lifting the multi-layered sanctions won’t be easy and will require real commitment by the Trump administration."

That’s the next test for Syria’s new friends – to keep Trump on track.

Image source, Reuters

During Trump's meeting with Syrian transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa, he gave the leader five instructions, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt:

• To sign the Abraham Accords in order to normalise relations with Israel
• To tell all "foreign terrorists" to leave Syria
• Specifically, Trump singled out "Palestinian terrorists" to be deported
• Assist the United States in stopping the resurgence of the so-called Islamic State group
• And on the same lines, assume the responsibility for detention centres relating to the group in northeast Syria

Sharaa will be buoyed by Trump meeting and US sanctions reliefpublished at 10:36 British Summer Time 14 May

10:36 BST 14 May

Sebastian Usher
Middle east regional editor

The meeting between Donald Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa may have been relatively brief, but the significance is that it has happened at all.

Since toppling Bashar al-Assad from power at the end of last year, Sharaa has been assiduous in trying to convince foreign leaders that he represents a new hope for Syria’s future, despite his jihadist past.

Last week, he took this message to Paris where he met French President Emmanuel Macron.

But meeting the US president represents his biggest coup yet on the world stage.

Syria's transitional president will be buoyed by Trump’s surprise announcement that US sanctions will be lifted on Syria.

This is seen as essential by the new Syrian authorities if any real lasting progress is to be made - and there’ve been celebrations in Syria at the news.

Not sharing the jubilation is the Israeli government, which still considers Sharaa a jihadist - and has warned that Syrian security forces should not operate south of Damascus.

Image source, Reuters

Before Trump announced his intentions to lift US sanctions on Syria yesterday, it had been designated a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979, when deposed dictator Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez al-Assad, was president.

Further sanctions and restrictions were placed on Syria in 2003.

Following the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the US government ramped up sanctions in an attempt to deprive the regime of the resources it needed "to continue violence against civilians and to pressure the Syrian regime to allow for a democratic transition".

Sanctions froze assets and interests in property in the US of Syrian officials, including Bashar al-Assad, as well as investments in Syria or the exportation of goods there by US citizens.

Petrol of Syrian origin could also not be imported to the US.

Image source, Bloomberg

In August 2020, during Trump's first presidential term, he announced the Abraham Accords from the Oval Office in the White House.

The accords, which Trump helped broker, are designed to normalise relations between other countries and Israel, to gain peace in the Middle East.

The declaration reads that "the best way to address challenges is through cooperation and dialogue and that developing friendly relations among States advances the interests of lasting peace in the Middle East and around the world".

Initially it was signed by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, with Sudan and Morocco agreeing to join later on.

It was a big step forward for relations between Israel and Arab countries, but Israel's war in Gaza in the wake of Hamas's deadly 7 October attacks has halted progress in getting other nations to sign on as well.

Trump's Iran criticism draws condemnation from Tehranpublished at 10:00 British Summer Time 14 May

10:00 BST 14 May

Khashayar Joneidi
Persian correspondent, reporting from Riyadh

In a speech delivered yesterday at the US-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh, President Donald Trump drew sharp contrasts between the economic development of Gulf Cooperation Council countries and what he described as the “mismanagement” and “corruption” of Iran’s leadership.

Trump specifically criticised Iran’s handling of its water crisis, blaming what he called a “water mafia” within the regime - and accused Tehran of siphoning national resources to fund proxy groups across the Middle East.

Despite extending what appeared to be an olive branch to Iran during the same address, Trump’s remarks have provoked an angry response from Iranian officials today.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi - who also heads the country’s nuclear negotiations - condemns Trump’s statements as “deceptive”.

Speaking in Tehran, Araghchi attributes Iran’s economic difficulties not to domestic mismanagement, but to US sanctions, placing the blame squarely on the US.

Referring to Washington’s maximum pressure policy against Iran, which was reiterated in Trump’s speech, Araghchi accuses the US president of turning a blind eye to the war in Gaza, in order to name Iran as the regional threat instead of Israel.

We've just received these pictures of President Donald Trump's appearance at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Saudi Arabia, which has just concluded:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Anadolu

We are now getting more details about the meeting between US President Donald Trump, interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Erdogan and Salman praised Trump for lifting sanctions on Syria. The latter called it "courageous".

In a post on X, she writes that Trump told Sharaa that "he has a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country".

He also encouraged Syria to sign the Abraham Accords - a US-led initiative for Middle East nations to normalise relations with Israel - and "tell all foreign terrorists to leave Syria".

The Russia-Ukraine war and the war in Gaza was also discussed, Leavitt adds.

Sharaa told the leaders that he hopes Syria can serve as a critical trade link between the east and west, she adds.

Image source, Anadolu

We're now seeing pictures from the meeting between Donald Trump and Ahmed al-Sharaa earlier.

It was also attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who joined remotely.

Image source, Anadolu

Image source, X/Karoline Leavitt

Image source, Reuters

The people in the room for President Trump's speech were all listening attentively.

There were smiles from of the assembled leaders of Gulf nations when President Trump talks about "the media" and "fake news".

When Trump says it was "an honour" to meet Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman nodded in agreement.

Concluding his speech, Trump says the "whole world is talking about what you are doing".

He insists they are going to forge a Middle East that is "thriving" and the "geographic centre of the world".

Trump finishes by showering more praise on Mohammed bin Salman, saying it has been "an honour to spend time" with the Saudi crown prince.

Trump says at the end of his first term, all of the momentum in the Middle East was "towards peace".

He hopes to continue the progress, he tells the room, calling his election the "most consequential in America in 129 years".

They will continue to add more countries to the Abraham Accords, he says, for the normalisation of relations with Israel in the region.

He earlier thanked Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates for signing the agreement.

Image source, Reuters

Trump continues his speech by touching on his decision to drop sanctions on Syria.

He says he recently spoke on the phone with Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan and adds it is "my honour" to remove the sanctions.

"It's going to be a good thing," Trump says. He then says there is a chance too for Lebanon to have "a better future" and one which is "free of Hezbollah grip".