President Donald Trump praised Saudi Arabia's prince during a meeting on Tuesday, years after a U.S. intelligence report stated that the prince ordered a journalist's death.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey's leaders played a key role in convincing Trump to lift sanctions on Syria and meet with al-Sharaa.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, the first encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years and one that could mark a turning point for Syria as it struggles to emerge from decades of international isolation.

A cavalcade of tech leaders was on hand in the Saudi capital for an investment summit presided over by President Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Nearly three dozen American business leaders, invited by the Saudis, flew thousands of miles to attend the president’s state visit.

Although Trump recently attended the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome, Saudi Arabia was originally intended to be his initial overseas destination, just like in his first term. It served as a gilded debut for a foreign policy focused on securing cash infusions for American businesses.

President Donald Trump has met with Syria’s interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, the first such encounter between the two nations’ leaders in 25 years.

President Donald Trump signed a $600 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday that includes a major defense contract and substantial investments in artificial intelligence—as U.S. business executives made their own set of deals at a conference in the backdrop of Trump’s visit to Riyadh, the first stop on his four-day tour of the Middle East.