Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump touched down in Saudi Arabia aboard Air Force One on Tuesday on the first stop of four day visit to the region, the first major overseas trip of his second term, with a focus on securing investment in the U.S. economy worth as much as $1 trillion.

President Trump on Tuesday said he would order an end to sanctions on Syria in place since 1979, and the White House said he would briefly meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharra on Thursday, a dramatic about-turn in U.S. policy toward a man who until recently led a group the United States labeled a terrorist organization.

"There is a new government that will hopefully succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace," Trump said to extended applause at an investment conference in Riyadh, where he made the first major foreign policy address of his second term.

President Donald Trump’s week-long trip to the Middle East is expected to result in several economic and business deals as he attempts to shore up relationships with Gulf states in one of the first major international trips of his second term.

President Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first major overseas trip of his second term. Over four days, he also plans to visit the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, from which he is trying to acquire a plane for use as Air Force One.

The Middle East has big security challenges, but Mr. Trump is there for deals.

Mr. Trump is not planning a visit to Israel, although the war in Gaza is raging and Hamas still holds hostages. And he has no intention of visiting Oman, where Iranian nuclear negotiations are taking place.

President Donald Trump is traveling to the Middle East to bring more investment to the U.S.

Trump departed Washington, D.C., on Monday ahead of planned visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates through the end of the week. While in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the president will meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as the dealmaking swing kicks off.

President Donald Trump is ready to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet as a gift from the ruling family of Qatar during his trip to the Middle East this coming week, and U.S. officials say it could be converted into a potential presidential aircraft.

The Qatari government said a final decision hadn’t been made. Still, Trump defended the idea — what would amount to a president accepting an astonishingly valuable gift from a foreign government — as a fiscally smart move for the country.

Mass terminations and billions of dollars’ worth of cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have gutted key programs – from child support services to HIV treatment abroad – and created a “real danger” that disease outbreaks will be missed, according to former workers.

Workers at the HHS, now led by Robert F Kennedy Jr, and in public health warned in interviews that chaotic, flawed and sweeping reductions would have broad, negative effects across the US and beyond.

Democratic leaders erupted late Thursday after it was reported that President Trump had abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. 

Hayden was notified of her firing in an email late Thursday from the White House's Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email seen by The Associated Press. 

U.S President Donald Trump fired the Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden, in part over her commitment to diversity, the White House said on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration believed Hayden wasn't serving the interests of American taxpayers, citing her advancement of diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The Trump administration fired the librarian of Congress, Carla D. Hayden, on Thursday, drawing swift outcry from Democrats. Dr. Hayden was the first African American and first woman to serve as the head of the institution.

Dr. Hayden, appointed as the 14th librarian of Congress by President Barack Obama in 2016, had overseen the library through President Trump’s first term.