U.S. President Donald Trump has received a royal welcome after arriving in Saudi Arabia, his first stop of a three-day regional tour.

The White House says the two countries inked a $142bn defense sales agreement as part of a $600bn Saudi investment commitment.

“We like each other a lot,” Trump says during talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The two leaders have also met a long list of major U.S. business executives who are also in Riyadh for a Saudi-U.S. investment forum.

After Saudi Arabia, Trump is due to visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto tsar, has defended Trump’s move to open up AI technology exports to allies, as several Persian Gulf firms reportedly pursue deals with U.S. counterparts.

Speaking at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh, Sacks said a Biden-era regulation, which the Trump administration has announced plans to roll back, “restricted the diffusion or proliferation of American technology all over the world”.

“[Diffusion] is not a risk with a friend like Saudi Arabia at all,” said Sacks, a close friend of Musk.