"Qatar's Boeing Purchase: Claimed at $200 Billion,
Actual Value Is $96 Billion"
The New York Times (NYT) and other outlets reported on May 14 (local time) that the investment amounts US President Donald Trump claimed to have secured from Saudi Arabia and Qatar during his Middle East tour were exaggerated.
The White House had announced the previous day that a "Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement" had been signed between the United States and Saudi Arabia, which included business deals worth $600 billion. This agreement encompassed $142 billion in sales contracts between U.S. defense companies and Saudi Arabia, as well as $20 billion in investments by Saudi companies in U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and energy infrastructure.
However, the NYT reported that the total value of the business deals disclosed afterward amounted to about $283 billion, roughly half of the $600 billion initially claimed. Notably, the deals included not only Saudi investments in the United States but also U.S. investments in Saudi Arabia, as well as projects that had already been underway before Trump took office.
In addition, President Trump announced that Qatar Airways planned to purchase Boeing aircraft from the United States, stating that the deal would exceed $200 billion. However, outlets such as AFP reported that, considering the sales prices of the Boeing 777X and 787 Dreamliner aircraft that Qatar Airways intended to purchase, the actual contract value fell short of this figure.
According to the press reference materials released by the White House, the actual contract value was $96 billion for 210 aircraft. This figure includes not only Qatar Airways' purchase of Boeing 777X aircraft but also the contract amount with GE Aerospace.
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