In the hours before and after Air Force One touched down yesterday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Trump's team plunged into a frenetic diplomatic blitz, aiming to defuse four of the world's most volatile crises — all at once, Axios' Barak Ravid and Zachary Basu write.

• Why it matters: Trump came to the Middle East chasing $1 trillion in foreign investment. But under the pageantry of the Gulf summits, he's betting that a whirlwind of personalized diplomacy can succeed where decades of U.S. policy have failed.

"As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound," Trump said in his keynote speech at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum.

🇸🇾 1. Syria: Trump stunned the audience — and drew a standing ovation — by announcing that he's lifting U.S. sanctions on Syria, offering the new government "a chance at greatness" after the fall of the Assad regime.

• He did today (3 a.m. ET) what no U.S. president has done for 25 years: Meet with the Syrian president.
• Until recently, Trump had privately referred to Ahmed al-Sharaa — who was placed on the U.S. terror list due to his ties to al-Qaeda — as "a jihadi."

🇮🇱 2. Israel-Hamas: Hours before Trump departed for Riyadh, in between negotiating sessions with Iran in Oman, his envoy Steve Witkoff secured a deal for the release of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, who had been in Hamas custody for 584 days.

• On Monday, Trump sent Witkoff and White House hostage envoy Adam Boehler to Doha to push for a broader hostage and ceasefire deal.

🇺🇦 3. Russia-Ukraine: Trump is pushing hard for the countries to hold direct talks this week for the first time in three years — even floating the idea of joining Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey later this week.

• Zelensky confirmed he'll travel to Istanbul for the talks. Despite being the one to propose negotiations, Putin has yet to confirm his attendance.

🇮🇷 4. Iran: Days after the conclusion of a fourth round of nuclear talks in Oman, Trump issued a public ultimatum urging Iran's leaders to accept a new nuclear deal or face a return to "massive maximum pressure."

• "I have never believed in having permanent enemies," Trump said in Riyadh, offering Iran "an olive branch" while stressing that the Islamic Republic can never have a nuclear weapon.

🥊 Reality check: In Ukraine, Gaza and beyond, Trump's supreme confidence in his own dealmaking abilities hasn't yet been backed up by results.

• But bumps in the road might not stop him from declaring victory.

Share this story.

President Trump loves nothing more than flashy investment promises. Saudi Arabia yesterday obliged to the tune of $600 billion, Axios' Dan Primack writes.

• Why it matters: This is an optics win for a White House cognizant of America's rising economic anxieties, even if some of the money never flows.

The Saudis agreed to buy nearly $142 billion in military equipment and services from U.S. defense contractors — nearly double the Kingdom's entire 2025 defense budget.

• Saudi Arabia also agreed to purchase gas turbines from GE Vernova, planes from Boeing, and to invest in U.S. companies via new private equity funds.
• By the end of his trip to the Gulf, which includes stops in Qatar and the UAE, Trump is hoping to obtain more than $1 trillion worth of deals and economic commitments.

🧮 By the numbers: An itemized list provided by the White House doesn't come close to $600 billion.

• It works out to $282.8 billion — nearly 30% of which involves private-sector tech investments "in both countries."
• The remainder seems to fall under the unenumerated umbrella of "many other deals," which may include Nvidia's new agreement to sell chips to Saudi Arabia.

Reality check: Even if all $600 billion were accounted for (which it isn't), that doesn't necessarily mean there will be $600 billion in investment.

• Trump secured $450 billion via a similar Saudi pledge in 2017, but it didn't all materialize.

The same goes for some other high-profile investment promises during Trump's first term, such as $10 billion from China's Foxconn to build a factory in Wisconsin. To date, less than $1 billion has been invested in that project.

• Share this story.

The $400 million jumbo jet President Trump plans to accept from Qatar is worth 100 times more than every other presidential gift from a foreign nation combined since 2001, Axios' Sareen Habeshian and Noah Bressner write.

• Why it matters: The prospect of the lavish gift raised major ethics concerns and sparked rare backlash from a set of influential MAGA media stars.

💰 By the numbers: Presidents reported a mere $3.8 million worth of gifts from foreign countries between George W. Bush's inauguration and 2023, according to an Axios analysis of State Department data.

• Until now, the biggest gift has been a "hand-made and specially commissioned bronze sculpture depicting two horses" given to President Obama from Saudi Arabia, estimated to be worth about $500,000.

🦊 In a mid-flight interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Air Force One, airing last night, Trump said the current Air Force One plane is "much smaller" and "much less impressive" than Qatar's 747-8 offering.

• The president argued the plane would be a gift to the U.S., not him personally: "I get nothing. I get to fly it like any other president would."

Share this story.

Editor's note: This item was corrected to note that presidents reported $3.8 million in gifts between 2001 and 2023 (not 2024).

Stocks just completed one of the more improbable round trips in recent history, Axios' Ben Berkowitz writes.

• Why it matters: In the era of President Trump's on-and-off-again tariffs, radical uncertainty has a powerful grip on investors and the economy.

💸 By the numbers: As of yesterday's close, the S&P 500 is up slightly for 2025 after having been down double digits as recently as April 8.

• Fueled by tariff panic, the S&P touched bear market territory that day, 20% off its recent highs.
• Then Trump paused his stiffest tariffs, sparking what has nearly been a bull market rally since.

Reality check: The market's still down almost 2% since Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration, as the effects of trade war whiplash linger.

• Get Axios Markets.

EVs are slated to reach one-fourth of global car sales this year despite trade and policy question marks, Axios' Ben Geman writes from a new International Energy Agency report.

• Why it matters: EV sticker prices are getting more competitive with gas-powered models as battery costs fall, but gaps persist in key markets outside China.

🛣️ Between the lines: IEA sharply cut its U.S. EV growth estimate as Trump 2.0 officials and congressional Republicans reverse Biden-era subsidies and rules.

• The agency now sees EVs with 20% of the light-duty market — sedans, vans, SUVs and pickups — in 2030. That's less than half of its projection in last year's analysis.

Get Axios Generate.

North Korean IT workers are setting up front companies across China as part of their global operation to trick Western companies into hiring them, according to a new report shared first with Axios' Sam Sabin.

• Why it matters: Nearly every Fortune 500 company struggles with the problem of North Korea-based IT workers trying to get hired at their firms.

Strider Technologies, a cyber intelligence platform, released a report today saying it has identified 35 China-based companies linked to North Korean IT worker operations.

• North Korean operations shifted from scams focused on salary money to gathering intelligence about the companies they're working for, including intellectual property and any other company secrets.

Keep reading ... Get Axios Future of Cybersecurity.

A.G. Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, said in a speech at Notre Dame last night that an "anti-press campaign threatens the special formula that has made the American model so successful for nearly 250 years."

• Why it matters: The address — also published as a rare, 5,500-word op-ed on the Times' website — became Sulzberger's first significant byline for the paper since a 2019 talk at Brown, "The Growing Threat to Journalism Around the World."

Zoom in: Sulzberger pinpoints three ways the press plays a crucial role in our success as a nation...

1. "As a historic surge of misinformation erodes our shared reality, the press ensures the flow of trustworthy news and information the public needs to make decisions, whether about elections, the economy or their lives."
2. "As polarization and tribalism strain our societal bonds, the press fosters the mutual understanding that allows a diverse, divided nation to come together with common purpose."
3. "As rising inequality and impunity undermine confidence in the American promise, the press asks the tough questions and exposes the hidden truths that enable the public to hold powerful interests accountable."

Keep reading, "A Free People Need a Free Press" (gift link).

Major League Baseball has removed Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other deceased players from the league's permanently ineligible list — making them eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Axios' Russell Contreras writes.

• Why it matters: Rose and Jackson were legendary players during their time, but had been shunned for their role in gambling on the sport — something the league now embraces.

⚾ The intrigue: President Trump met with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in the Oval Office earlier this year and has said he plans to pardon Rose posthumously.

• Rose pleaded guilty in 1990 to two counts of filing false tax returns and served a five-month prison sentence.

Keep reading.