Qatar Airways signs $200 bn deal to buy 160 Boeing jets during Trump visit

Qatar Airways on Wednesday signed a massive deal with US manufacturer Boeing to purchase 160 jets, valued at $200 billion, during US President Donald Trump's visit to the Gulf Arab country, CNN reported.

President Donald Trump and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani witnessed the agreement at a signing ceremony in Doha.

Trump said, "So it's over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the Jets, that's fantastic."

"So that's a record, Kelly, then congratulations to Boeing," he added, directing his comments to Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, who was in the room.

According to CNN, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also signed agreements regarding defense, including a statement of intent on defense cooperation between Qatar and the United States.

Hegseth also signed offer and acceptance letters for MQ 9B aircraft and FS-LIDS. Trump signed a joint declaration of cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America.

Al Jazeera reported that, during the signing ceremony, the Emir said the two leaders had a "great" few hours of discussion covering a range of issues. "I think after signing these documents, we are going to another level of relations," he said.

In response, Trump thanked the Qatar emir and said it had been a "very interesting couple of hours" discussing topics including the Russia-Ukraine war, Iran and trade relations. He hailed what he described as a record sale reached for US aircraft company Boeing.

"We've been friends for a long time and this is an outstanding man," Trump said about the emir.

Earlier in the day, Trump arrived in the Qatari capital to a warm welcome after concluding his visit to Saudi Arabia, as per Al Jazeera.

The US president is on a four-day trip to the Gulf, as part of which he first visited Saudi Arabia, which was also the venue for his first state visit during his first term in office between 2016 and 2020. His last stop would be the UAE.