Trump praises Saudi Arabia as he attends FII Priority Summit in Miami

US President uses podium to lash out at Boeing over delays to Air Force One project

President Donald Trump speaks at the Future Investment Initiative Institute summit in Miami Beach. AP

President Donald Trump gave a lengthy address to the FII Priority Summit in Miami on Wednesday, when he thanked Saudi Arabia for hosting this week's talks between Russia and the US aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

He also criticised Boeing and said he “may have to go a different route” after repeated delays have prevented the air giant from delivering the next generation of planes to serve as Air Force One.

“We have to thank Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for hosting these historic talks. Talks that went very, very well,” Mr Trump said at the event for FII, the Saudi non-profit run by the country's sovereign wealth fund.

Mr Trump has upended years of European and US policy towards Ukraine by convening talks with Russia and keeping Ukraine out of negotiations. Earlier on Wednesday, he called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator” and has blamed him for having started the war with Russia three years ago.

Mr Trump lashed out at Boeing over the delivery of two new planes that will serve as Air Force One, saying the plane maker “can never finish the damn thing”.

“I’m getting two of them, actually. But we may have to go a different route, because it’s taken them a long time.”

Mr Trump was personally involved in negotiations with Boeing for new versions of the planes – which have been in service for three decades – during his first term, and the Air Force has already committed to paying the company $3.5 billion towards the project.

Yet the effort has been beset with delays. The first of the 747s should have been ready to ferry Mr Trump at the start of his second term, but Boeing has struggled with the technical complications of retrofitting two existing aircraft, as well as parts shortages and worker turnover.

To bring the project in at a lower cost, the Trump White House agreed to drop some features, like the capacity to refuel the four-engine jumbo mid-air.

Trump's ties with Saudi Arabia

Mr Trump has made Saudi Arabia a key priority during his first month in office. The kingdom had made a $600 billion commitment to expand investment and trade with Washington over the next four years, which Mr Trump said he hoped would grow to $1 trillion.

His appearance also underscores his business interests in the Gulf. The Trump Organisation in December announced it will be building a new Trump Tower in Jeddah. The Trump Organisation is also linking up with London-based luxury real estate developer Dar Global to lease two new projects in Saudi Arabia.

Yasir Al Rumayyan – chairman of the FII and LIV Golf, and governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund – has occasionally played golf with Mr Trump. The President, whose golf courses have hosted LIV Golf events in recent years, is also emerging as a potential mediator between the Saudi-backed league and the US-based PGA Tour.

And Mr Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose Affinity Partners fund has received backing from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, is also based in Miami. Mr Kushner helped broker the Abraham Accords during Mr Trump's first term in office.

He last year hailed Gaza's “waterfront property”, an idea Mr Trump seemingly picked up last month as he suggested turning the strip devastated by Israeli air strikes into a “Riviera of the Middle East”. The idea was roundly criticised by Arab leaders.

Riyadh also hosted talks between the US and Russia this week aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Officials in Kyiv were not invited.