Trump Endorses the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement Signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he was pleased by the trilateral defence treaty signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, calling it a "big, bold and important first step". His statement was carried in The Hindu's running coverage of the West Asia conflict.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the agreement at Al-Safa Palace in Makkah on 7 August. The joint statement issued by the three governments says an armed attack against any one of them shall be regarded as an attack against them all, and provides for expanded cooperation across all areas of defence. Pakistan describes the pact as purely defensive and open to other members. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said the group should grow and bring other countries under the same umbrella.

The combined force is substantial. The three states together hold close to 1.4 million active personnel, about 3,400 aircraft, 6,000 tanks and more than 340 naval assets, according to figures compiled by Al Jazeera from the 2026 Global Firepower Index. One of the signatories, Pakistan, possesses nuclear weapons, which is the element that gives the arrangement a deterrent character distinct from ordinary defence cooperation.

Trump's endorsement is notable because the pact was widely read as a hedge against the reliability of American security guarantees, formed after a year in which Gulf states watched Washington fight a war with Iran without consulting them on its consequences. Washington's position is that a stronger regional bloc reduces the burden on American forces. The competing reading, advanced by analysts in the region, is that the arrangement gives Riyadh and Ankara options that do not require American approval.