US President Donald Trump secured a $1 trillion investment commitment from Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first foreign trip since returning to office. The US leader has been meeting with  alongside a large group of senior officials and company executives.

Despite differences over the Arab-Israeli conflict and human rights, the US has maintained a strong alliance with the kingdom for more than seven decades. Now, the two countries appear headed toward an even tighter embrace.

The pact includes US defense sales valued at nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with equipment and services from over a dozen defense firms. Riyadh’s sovereign wealth fund placed an order for 30 Boeing single-aisle aircraft, and reached understandings with US over energy and mineral resources. To follow our live-ticker of the Saudi-US investment forum, click here. 

While business was at the forefront of today’s dealmaking, geopolitics looms large on Trump’s route through the Middle East. Trump suggested he might stop in Turkey on Thursday where talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to take place.  — Jennifer Duggan

What You Need to Know Today

The EU is said to be discussing ways to prevent Hungary from undermining the opening of accession talks with Ukraine. In a closed-door discussion last week, some member states pushed the European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, to explore options to open the first chapter of negotiations despite objections raised by Budapest over the treatment of Hungarian minority communities in western Ukraine. 

As markets soared on a truce in the trade war between the US and China, Citadel founder Ken Griffin reflected on the past month, suggesting it would have been better to sit on the sidelines in cash. “It’s been a really difficult time for fundamental investors because so much of the value of the companies that we invest in is being dictated by very quickly changing policies from Washington,” Griffin, 56, said in an interview.

Microsoft  said it will cut thousands of workers with a focus on reducing layers of management. Planned reductions across the company amount to less than 3% of total headcount, a spokesperson said. “We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” the spokesperson said.

De Beers has been quietly selling rough diamonds at sharply marked-down prices to a small handful of customers, in a highly unusual move that’s fueling tensions across an industry already mired in crisis. The secret deals appear aimed at reducing De Beers’s ballooning inventories without openly cutting prices — something the company typically tries to avoid, but which has led to a big gap between its official pricing and valuations in the wider diamond market. 

Artificial intelligence will allow Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, to stop hiring more humans for now in an early indication of the disruption the emerging technology may bring to the workforce. “We do not foresee the number of employees increasing any further” in the near future, Chief Executive Officer Nicolai Tangen told lawmakers in Oslo on Tuesday. Instead, the $1.8 trillion fund, will now “focus on better efficiency through more use of technology,” he said. 

Electric cars and trucks in the US will carry the cost of tariffs more heavily than most, but that doesn’t necessarily mean car buyers will see bigger price spikes for those models. Instead, carmakers may choose to tack import-fee costs onto the price tags of machines that drivers are willing to pay a premium for, including gas-burning, American-made cars and trucks. Industry experts say price increases to recoup tariff costs may have little relation to the specific cars hit with the new levies.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s days away from ordering an all-out escalation of Israel’s war against Hamas, and even the release of more hostages would only pause the campaign to destroy the Iran-backed group. The Israeli leader said his armed forces are preparing to “finish the job” after 19 months of fighting in Gaza, according to a transcript released by his office.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

For Your Commute

The United States is the only nation projected to feel an international tourism slump this year. According to new data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), shared exclusively with Bloomberg, the country is set to lose $12.5 billion in travel revenue in 2025, with visitor spending estimated to fall under $169 billion by year’s end. This puts the US in a league of its own. Out of 184 global economies analyzed by WTTC in conjunction with Oxford Economics, it’s the only one projected to lose tourism dollars this year. 

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