Good evening. I'm Amna Nawaz. And I'm Jeff Bennett. On the news hour tonight, President Trump kicks off a four-day trip to the Middle East, prioritizing business deals on the first official trip of his second term.

Despite reductions on some tariffs, trouble continues in the bond market, what it means for your investments and the broader U.S. economy.

And we examine the potential impact of one state's effort to cut back diversity initiatives on college campuses.

It's saying that I don't count. I'm not qualified. I don't have merit. And all of that is not true.

Welcome to the News Hour. President Trump signed several new agreements with Saudi Arabia today on this, the first leg of a three-nation tour of the Middle East. It's his first major trip abroad since retaking the White House.

The president met with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and spoke at length during an investment conference.

As Nick Schifrin reports, Mr. Trump also assailed decades of American policy in the region

while he sets a new course.

Today in Riyadh, a royal welcome.

A rare personal escort by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Arabian horses escorting

the world's most expensive limo, and U.S. made Saudi F-15s escorting the world's most

expensive passenger plane into Riyadh.

The kingdom welcomed President Trump with lavender carpet treatment, eager for U.S. engagement,

and believing the best way to enhance it, is a meeting of the mines and money.

MBS, as the Crown Prince is widely known, and President Trump mingling with leading CEOs,

and signing tens of billions of dollars worth of agreements.

Behind the show, the Crown Prince's diplomatic priorities, including one announced today.

President Trump will meet with Ahmed al-Shara, the one-time insurgent imprisoned by the U.S.

20 years ago in Iraq, who helped lead an al-Qaeda offshoot in Syria and is now Syria's

interim president.

He's been campaigning for international recognition and the lifting of sanctions, which

today President Trump told business and Saudi leaders he would grant.

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