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

The treaty signed on 7 August binds three states that together field close to 1.4 million active personnel, and Turkey's foreign minister says he wants to add more members.

- Published: 2026-08-17T05:13:34.495Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-08-17/trump-endorses-the-makkah-joint-defence-agreement-signed-by
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Dawn](https://www.dawn.com/news/2023386/big-bold-and-important-first-step-trump-welcomes-defence-pact-between-pakistan-saudi-arabia-and-turkiye), [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-us-west-asia-war-strait-of-hormuz-donald-trump-live-updates-on-august-17-2026/article71354691.ece), [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/11/what-are-saudi-arabia-turkiye-and-pakistans-joint-military-capabilities), [Saudi Press Agency](https://www.spa.gov.sa/en/N2649227)

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"](https://www.dawn.com/news/2023386/big-bold-and-important-first-step-trump-welcomes-defence-pact-between-pakistan-saudi-arabia-and-turkiye). His statement was carried in [The Hindu's running coverage of the West Asia conflict](https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/iran-us-west-asia-war-strait-of-hormuz-donald-trump-live-updates-on-august-17-2026/article71354691.ece).

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](https://www.spa.gov.sa/en/N2649227) 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](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/11/what-are-saudi-arabia-turkiye-and-pakistans-joint-military-capabilities). 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.

## What this means

Security guarantees are the foundation of the arrangement that keeps oil priced and settled in dollars, because they give Washington leverage over producers that no other buyer can match. A functioning mutual-defence bloc among Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan reduces that leverage at the margin, and it does so slowly rather than visibly. The immediate beneficiaries are Turkish and Pakistani defence manufacturers, which gain a procurement channel into Gulf budgets that previously flowed to American and European suppliers.

## What to watch

- Which country joins next, since the addition of another Gulf state would show the pact is a functioning bloc rather than a bilateral arrangement with an extra signatory.
- Saudi and Turkish arms procurement decisions over the coming year, because a shift away from American systems would be the first measurable consequence.
- Whether the three states coordinate any position on the Strait of Hormuz, which would be the first practical test of the treaty against a live crisis.