Saudi Crown Prince promises Trump to boost $600 billion trade, investment

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday greeted Donald Trump on his return to the White House and pledged $600 billion in US trade and investment.

State media said Prince Mohammed, the de facto leader of the world’s biggest oil exporter, made the pledge in a phone call after Trump’s inauguration on Monday.

Trump forged close ties with Riyadh in his first term and is now expected to push Saudi Arabia, home to Islam’s holiest sites, to normalize ties with Israel as a major foreign policy objective.

“The Crown Prince reaffirmed the Kingdom’s intention to increase its investment and trade with the United States to $600 billion and potentially even more over the next four years,” the Saudi Press Agency reported.

It did not detail the source of the funds, which represent more than half of Saudi GDP, or how they are expected to be used.

Prince Mohammed, 39, also received congratulations from his father, King Salman, during the call with Trump.

Trump’s first visit as president was to Saudi Arabia in 2017, and this week he joked that a major financial commitment might tempt him to do so again.

“I did this last time with Saudi Arabia because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our products,” he said.

Trump quipped that he would repeat the visit “if Saudi Arabia wants to buy another 450 or 500 (billion dollars) – we’ll jack it all up for inflation”.

During Trump’s first term, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco broke the long-standing Arab policy of recognizing Israel under the Abraham Accords.

The new Trump administration is expected to try to repeat the process with Saudi Arabia, following similar efforts under President Joe Biden.

Iran’s threat

Saudi Arabia broke off negotiations with US officials regarding relations with Israel at the beginning of the Gaza war and has repeatedly stressed that it will not recognize Israel without the existence of a Palestinian state.

However, a long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza and a possible reduction in regional tensions could pave the way for the resumption of talks.

In exchange for recognizing Israel, the Arab world’s richest country hopes to secure US defense agreements and Washington’s help in the civilian nuclear program.

In his talks with the crown prince on Thursday, new US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and “threats posed by Iran and its proxies,” according to a statement.

A spokesperson for Rubio said, “They also discussed the benefits of the US-Saudi economic partnership and opportunities to develop their economies in a variety of areas, including AI.”

Trump actively supported Saudi Arabia, an important energy and security partner for Washington, during his first term.

When he arrived in Riyadh in 2017, he was given a grand welcome, which included a sword dance and a fly-past of air force jets.

Relations later cooled when Prince Mohammed blamed Trump for failing to respond more aggressively after the 2019 attack, which was widely blamed on Iran, which caused the Gulf state’s supply of crude. Production was halved.

Riyadh and Trump’s team nevertheless tried to boost ties after his departure from the White House, particularly through investment and construction deals for his privately owned group the Trump Organization.

Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has defended receiving a Saudi investment in his private equity firm, worth a reported $2 billion.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here