President Trump announced today that the U.S. would end its sanctions on Syria, which have effectively cut it off from international commerce. The decision offered an economic lifeline for a country devastated by nearly 14 years of civil war and decades of dictatorship. He is expected to meet tomorrow with the country’s new leader.
Trump announced the policy change at the start of his four-day tour of the Middle East. He received a lavish welcome in Saudi Arabia today, complete with a lavender carpet, a team of Arabian horses and a delegation of royals. Executives from some of America’s largest companies also joined him for lunch.
Our photographer Doug Mills photographed the day’s extravagant events.
White House officials said that Trump had already secured $600 billion in deals with the Saudi government and Saudi companies. But the details his aides provided were vague and totaled less than half that number. Several were already in the works before Trump returned to the White House in January.
In other news from Washington:
The Trump administration is directing more F.B.I., drug and gun agents toward immigration enforcement as it ramps up a crackdown across more than two dozen U.S. cities in the coming days.
The Trump administration canceled $450 million in grants to Harvard, in addition to $2.2 billion it had already frozen.
The C.I.A. pursued diversity as a hard-nosed national security initiative. The Trump administration is undoing its efforts.
Republicans in Congress are exploring cuts to federal aid, leaving some states fearful that their budgets cannot absorb billions of dollars in new costs.
Israeli officers concluded Gaza is on the brink of starvation
In public, Israel has for months maintained that its blockade on food and fuel to Gaza did not pose a major threat to civilian life. But in private, some senior Israeli officials have said that Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks.