Trump hails ‘Big, Bold’ Mecca defence pact as Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan forge new security bloc

US President Donald Trump has welcomed a new defence agreement between Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, describing the deal as a “big, bold, and important first step” toward greater regional security.

In a post shared on social media, Trump said he was “very happy” that the three countries had signed the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, adding that it showed the Middle East was “coming together” and would allow countries to defend themselves “in a more meaningful way.”

The agreement was signed Aug. 7 in Mecca by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

It states that an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three — a collective-defense provision broadly comparable in principle to NATO’s Article 5.

The agreement brings together three strategically important Sunni Muslim-majority states: Saudi Arabia, a leading Gulf power and major oil producer; Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army and a growing defence industry; and Pakistan, a nuclear-armed country with longstanding military ties to Riyadh.

The pact is intended to strengthen collective deterrence and expand defence cooperation, although officials have described it as defensive rather than directed against a specific country.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the agreement does not replace existing bilateral or multilateral arrangements and remains open to other regional states.

Türkiye has said the three countries plan to establish political and military coordination mechanisms, hold joint exercises and deepen cooperation in defense industries, as per Reuters.

The agreement comes amid heightened security concerns across the Middle East, including missile attacks affecting Gulf states and broader military tensions involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

Analysts say the pact reflects regional governments’ efforts to strengthen their own security capabilities while continuing to maintain ties with Washington, Bloomberg reported.

The arrangement also builds on a separate Saudi-Pakistani mutual-defense agreement signed in September 2025.

The addition of Turkey gives the earlier bilateral relationship a wider political, military and industrial dimension.

The agreement’s effectiveness could hinge on whether the three governments establish clear command structures, intelligence-sharing arrangements, rules for responding to an attack and mechanisms for coordinating military deployments.

Trump’s endorsement could give the pact additional political weight, particularly because all three signatories are longstanding US partners.