After years away from Washington, Saudi crown prince to get warm embrace from Trump, US business
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump set for the holiday Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman On Tuesday, when Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader made his first White House visit since the killing of a Washington Post journalist in 2018 Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
The operation targeting Khashoggi, a harsh critic of the kingdom, who US intelligence agencies later identified as Prince Mohammed, had thrown US-Saudi relations into a deadlock. probably directed agents to actualize.
However, seven years later, the dark clouds over the relationship dispersed. And Trump has tightened his allegiance to the 40-year-old crown prince, whom he sees as an indispensable player in shaping the Middle East in the coming years. Prince Mohammed denies involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and resident of Virginia.
Khashoggi will likely become an afterthought as the two leaders announce multibillion-dollar deals and meet with aides to discuss the difficult road ahead in an unstable Middle East. They will end their day with a White House party hosted by First Lady Melania Trump to honor the prince.
“They have been a great ally,” Trump said of the Saudis on the eve of the visit.
Warplanes and business deals
Before Prince Mohammed’s arrival, Trump announced: Saudis agree to sell F-35 fighter jets That’s despite some concerns from the administration that the sale could give China access to U.S. technology behind its advanced weapons system.
Trump’s announcement is also surprising because some in the Republican administration have been wary of undermining Israel’s qualitative military superiority over its neighbors, especially at a time when Trump’s own success depends on Israel’s support. Gaza peace plan.
But the unexpected move comes at a time when Trump is trying to encourage the Saudis to normalize relations with Israel.
During his first term, the president helped establish trade and diplomatic ties between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. Abraham Accords.
Trump sees the expansion of the agreements as necessary for his broader efforts to restore stability in the Middle East after the two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
He argues that if Saudi Arabia, the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam, signs the agreement, it will create a tremendous domino effect. The president even predicted in recent weeks that once Saudi Arabia signed the agreements, “everyone” in the Arab world would be included in the agreement.
However, the Saudis argued that a clear path towards a Palestinian state must first be established before normalization of relations with Israel can be considered. Israelis, meanwhile, remain staunchly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
On Monday, the UN Security Council approved an agreement. US plan for Gaza authorizing an international stabilization force to ensure security in the devastated region, and foresees a possible path in the future to an independent Palestinian state.
Assurances regarding US military support
The leaders will certainly have plenty to talk about, including maintaining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, mutual concerns about Iran’s abusive behavior and the brutal civil war in Sudan.
And the Saudis expect to receive formal assurances from Trump defining the scope of U.S. military protection for the kingdom, although anything not approved by Congress could be undone by the next president.
Prince Mohammed, 40, who has distanced himself from the West in the wake of Khashoggi’s murder, also aims to reestablish his position as a global player and a leader determined to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil by investing in sectors such as mining, technology and tourism.
For this purpose, Saudi Arabia is expected to announce that it will invest billions of dollars in the USA. artificial intelligence The two countries will announce details on new cooperation in the civilian nuclear energy sector, according to a senior Trump administration official who was not authorized to comment publicly ahead of the official announcement.
“I think the real challenge for us as Americans is trying to convince someone like MBS that the trajectory of Saudi Arabia should be more like South Korea than China,” said Bernard Haykel, professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, speaking at a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace event on Monday. “The bottom line is that political suppression of political opposition is not good for business. It’s not good for attracting foreign direct investment, and it’s not good for your image if you’re a tourist destination.”
But Trump’s warm embrace this week may provide a counter-argument to the crown prince’s argument.
In addition to the glamor of the White House, the two countries are planning an investment summit at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, attended by the heads of Salesforce, Qualcomm, Pfizer, Cleveland Clinic, Chevron and Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil and gas company, where more deals with the Saudis could be announced.
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AP writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.
