Qatar signs $200bln deal to buy jets from Boeing during Trump visit

DOHA: Qatar signed a deal on Wednesday to purchase jets from US manufacturer Boeing for Qatar Airways during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Gulf Arab country.

Trump said the deal was worth $200 billion and included 160 jets. Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani witnessed the signing ceremony in Doha.

The deal was announced during Trump’s second stop on a tour of Gulf states after he struck a string of deals with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Trump said Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg told him at the signing ceremony that “it’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing, that’s good”.

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Trump added: “It’s over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the jets, that’s fantastic. So that’s a record, Kelly, and congratulations to Boeing. Get those planes out there, get them out there.”

Earlier in the day, President Trump met with Syria’s president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia, after a surprise US announcement it would lift all sanctions on the Islamist-led government, and said Washington was exploring the possibility of normalising ties with Damascus.

He made the comments during a summit between the United States and Gulf Arab countries. Trump met Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa before the summit. Photos posted on Saudi state television showed them shaking hands in the presence of Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.

Trump also urged Sharaa to normalise ties with Israel, a White House spokesperson said.