President Donald Trump sways with traditional dancers during a welcome ceremony at Murabba Palace, Saturday, May 20, 2017, in Riyadh. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Riyadh: Dogged by controversy at home, Donald Trump won a warm reception in Saudi Arabia on Saturday but struggled to shift attention from the political firestorm over his firing of former FBI Director James Comey.

A $110 billion deal in which Saudi Arabia will buy U.S. arms to help it counter Iran, with options for as much as $350 billion over 10 years, was the central achievement of Trump's first day in Riyadh, first stop on a nine-day journey through the Middle East and Europe.

But the turmoil back home consumed the headlines and cast a long shadow over his first foreign trip as president.

His firing of Comey and the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his election campaign's ties to Russia last year have raised the question of whether he tried to squelch a probe into the alleged Russia connection.

The fallout followed Trump to Riyadh but did nothing to cool the welcome he received by the royal Saudi family.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz greeted Trump on a red carpet as he stepped off Air Force One, shaking the hand of his wife, Melania, and riding in the U.S. presidential limousine.

Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy, the Vatican and Belgium has been billed by the White House as a chance to visit places sacred to three of the world's major religions, while giving Trump time to meet with Arab, Israeli and European leaders.

Trump and King Salman seemed at ease with each other, chatting through an interpreter. At the royal al-Yamama palace, the king draped around Trump's neck the King Abdulaziz medal, the country's top civilian honor.