Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said on Thursday that the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion (€576 billion) in the United States over the next four years after a phone call with US President Donald Trump.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s comments come after Trump mused about returning to Saudi Arabia as his first foreign trip back in office.

State-run Saudi Press Agency said, “the crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its investments and trade with the United States over the next four years, in the amount of $600 billion (€576 bn), and potentially beyond that.”

The agency did not elaborate on exactly how the money would be spent.

During their conversation, the two also reportedly discussed ways the two countries could cooperate to establish peace, security and stability in the Middle East.

There was no immediate response from the White House regarding the call. It also wasn’t clear whether Trump’s call with the crown prince was his first with a foreign leader since returning to the Oval Office.

However, it was his first reported abroad.

Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia

After his inauguration, Trump talked about the possibility of heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did in 2017.

“The first foreign trip typically has been with the UK but… I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion (€429 bn) worth of our products,” Trump told journalists in the Oval Office.

“I think I’d probably go (again),” the recently inaugurated leader said.

In recent years, the US has increasingly pulled away from relying on Saudi oil exports — once the bedrock the relationship between the two nations.

Trump maintained close relations with Saudi Arabia, even after the crown prince was embroiled in controversy after he was implicated in the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.

The billion dollar pledge, which dwarves the gross domestic product of many nations, comes as the kingdom faces budgetary pressures of its own. Global oil prices remain depressed years after the height of the coronavirus pandemic, affecting the kingdom’s revenues.

Meanwhile, the crown prince has continued to invest in NEOM, a new city in the Saudi Arabian desert. The country also needs to build tens of billions of dollar’s worth of new stadiums and infrastructure ahead of the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which it is hosting.

Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine will never recognise occupied Ukrainian territories as being part of Russia, even if pressured to do so by allies, dampening hopes that Donald Trump may be able to strike a peace deal.

‘No matter what anyone wants, even if all the allies in the world unite, we will never recognise the occupied territories [as part of Russia]. This is impossible,’ the Ukrainian president emphasised.

‘We will not legally recognise them. For us, they will always remain occupied territories until we liberate them.’

Trump, who took office for a second term on Monday and was last in power before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has repeatedly said he could end the war swiftly, without specifying how.

His newly-appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that ending the war was a priority for the president, but would only be possible if both sides make significant concessions.

‘Anytime you bring an end to a conflict between two sides, neither of whom can achieve their maximum goals, each side is going to have to give up something,’ he told CNN, adding that ultimately the decision would be down to the Ukrainians and Russians.

It comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said today that Moscow sees a small window of opportunity to forge agreements with the new US administration.

‘We cannot say anything today about the degree of the incoming administration’s capacity to negotiate, but still, compared to the hopelessness in every aspect of the previous White House chief (Joe Biden), there is a window of opportunity today, albeit a small one,’ Ryabkov said, according to Interfax.

Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted that Ukraine will never recognise occupied Ukrainian territories as being part of Russia

Donald Trump, who took office for a second term on Monday, has said he could end the war swiftly, without specifying how

A Russian soldier fires a self-propelled gun

‘It’s therefore important to understand with what and whom we will have to deal, how best to build relations with Washington, how best to maximise opportunities and minimise risks,’ he said, speaking at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies, a think-tank in Moscow.

Trump warned on Tuesday that he would likely impose more sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate to end the nearly three-year-old conflict.

He gave no details on the possible additional sanctions on Russia, which is already under significant Western sanctions over the war.

The new president also issued a blow to the Kremlin on Tuesday, accusing Putin of ‘destroying Russia‘ with his failed war as he urged him to ‘make a deal’ to end the conflict.

‘He has to make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal,’ Trump said in a stark warning to the dictator.

‘I think Russia is going to be in big trouble,’ he added, saying that Putin ‘can’t be thrilled that he’s not doing so well.’

‘I mean, he works hard, but most people thought the war would be over in about a week, and now it’s been three years, right?’

The Russian economy was sinking, he went on, with inflation a major threat.

Putin, 72, earlier said he was ready to engage with Trump but still insisted on an outcome favouring Russia.

‘We are open to dialogue with the new US administration on the Ukrainian conflict. The most important thing here is to eliminate the root causes of the crisis,’ said the Russian ruler. An initial phone call is expected by Moscow to take place soon.

Trump said Zelensky was ready for a deal to halt the debilitating conflict, and the 78-year-old US leader said he planned to meet Putin with whom he had a ‘great relationship’ during his first term.

‘We’re going to try to do it as quickly as possible. You know, the war between Russia and Ukraine should never have started.’

Trump warned on Tuesday that he would likely impose more sanctions on Russia if President Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate to end the nearly three-year-old conflict

After months of Ukraine occupying parts of Russia’s Kursk region as it aims to improve its position in the event of talks, Zelensky stated that any dialogue could only go ahead with Kyiv in a position of strength.

‘Putin cannot be treated as legitimate in this situation. He has violated everything. He must understand his transgression,’ the Ukrainian president said today, adding that if Putin was ‘approached as an equal – that would be a loss for Ukraine.’

But, he said, his government’s top priority was to find a way to halt the war, which has claimed the lives of at least 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers, according to figures released by Ukraine in December.

‘We must find all possible ways to end the hot phase of the war. This is the number one issue,’ Zelensky said.

‘There can be many talks, but the main goal is to stop the active phase. This is the first guarantee of security.’

Russia has occupied Crimea since its 2014 invasion of the territory. Months later it took large parts of the Donbas region, launching a was under the guise of a separatist uprising.

Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian forces have controlled large swathes of southern and eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, since a surprise attack in August, Kyiv’s forces occupy around 600 sq km of Russian territory.

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Donald Trump has ordered a communications blackout at America’s federal health agencies, according to reports.

The CDC, FDA, HHS and NIH have all been told to pause external communications, including publishing scientific reports, updating websites or issuing health advisories.

The directive came without warning, sources told the Washington Post, and with little guidance as to how long it may last.

The health agencies play a vital role in gathering and sharing critical information with the public, including on outbreaks of infectious diseases, raising the alarm over foodborne disease outbreaks and food recalls.

However, DailyMail.com received its automated weekly FDA recall email at 8am ET this morning.

It is not entirely unusual for incoming administrations to pause external communications temporarily, which may be done to help newly appointed officials understand the scope of information that is being released.

But some said that if the pause lasts longer than a week or two then it could be seen as concerning.

The new president, 78, singled out public health agencies in his inaugural address — saying that they ‘do not deliver in times of disaster’, referring to what many have seen as a mishandling of Covid messaging.

Robert F. Kennedy Junior has been nominated to head up the HHS, which has oversight over all the federal health agencies.

As part of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ pledge, he has promised to overhaul the three agencies.

The communications blackout was issued by Stefanie Spear, a deputy chief of staff at HHS who joined the agency this week. She was also RFK Jr.’s press secretary during his presidential campaign.

The pause on external communications includes blocks on publishing scientific reports issued by the CDC, known as Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR), advisories sent out to clinicians on the CDC’s health network, data updates to the CDC website, and public health data released from the National Center for Health Statistics, including on drug overdose deaths.

The CDC had been scheduled to publish several MMWR reports this week, sources familiar with the matter said, including three on the bird flu outbreak alarming scientists.

It was not clear whether the directive also blocked the agencies from sharing urgent communications, such as on drug approvals or novel disease outbreaks.

Dr Lucky Tran, a Democrat-leaning science communicator at Columbia University, blasted the order as the beginning of censorship.

Jeff Jarvis, a retired professor of journalism at City University New York, said: ‘This is terrible: Forced ignorance on health data.

‘Officials in sane and scientific states must band together to report data on their own. We need such shadow governments.’

The CDC publishes on average about 50 peer-reviewed articles per week, in addition to updating numerous datasets and other materials, while the FDA initiates more than 500 food recalls per year.

The CDC receives about $24.9billion in public funding every year, while the FDA costs $8.4billion and the NIH costs more than $47billion annually.

At the beginning of Trump’s first term, administration officials also asked public health agencies to cease communicating with the public it was reported at the time.

At that time, the limits appeared focused on agenices overseeing environmental and scientific policy, such as the Environmental Protection Agency.

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