During a speech in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump stressed his commitment to prioritize and defend the United States using “overwhelming strength” and “devastating force” if necessary.

“In recent years, far too many American presidents have been afflicted with the notion that it’s our job to look into the souls of foreign leaders and use U.S. policy to dispense justice for their sins,” Trump told foreign leaders during the U.S.-Saudi investment forum in Riyadh. “They loved using our very powerful military. And now it’s really the most powerful it’s ever been …we’re getting the greatest missiles, the greatest weapons.”

He emphasized the importance of peace through strength and cautioned “bad things could happen” if the U.S. was weak and could not defend itself, The Daily Wire reports.

“It is God’s job to sit in judgment, my job to defend America, and to promote the fundamental interests of stability, prosperity, and peace,” the president said. “That’s what I really want to do.”

Following a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump announced plans to lift sanctions on Syria.

“Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing in many years,” he said. “That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.”

Furthermore, Trump outlined his vision for a more stable Middle East in the future and contrasted the path taken by Gulf nations and the Iranian regime.

“I am here today not merely to condemn the past choices of Iran’s leaders, but to offer them a new and a better path toward a much more hopeful future,” he said. “As I have shown repeatedly, I am willing to end past conflicts and forge new partnerships for a better and more stable world, even if our differences may be profound.”

Commending Middle Eastern leaders, the president also touted “the transformation that has occurred under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed” in Saudi Arabia, calling it “truly extraordinary.”

The White House claims that Trump was able to convince Saudi Arabia to commit $600 billion to investments in the U.S., including a roughly $142 billion defense agreement.

“If the responsible nations of this region seize this moment, put aside your differences and focus on the interests that unite you,” he said. “Then all of humanity will soon be amazed at what they will see right here in the geographic center of the world …and the spiritual heart of its greatest faiths.”

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