 "Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman holds US President Donald Trump's hand during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington. Reuters")
There were handshakes, plenty of pats on the back, and brushing aside of questions from the press. That’s what happened when the United States President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Tuesday (November 18).
This was the Saudi prince’s first official visit to the US in seven years, marking a U-turn in how Washington treats the kingdom’s de facto leader and prioritises the wider US-Saudi relationship.
And the Trump White House ensured that MBS, as he is popularly known as, was given the royal treatment — fighter jets were dispatched for his entry along with an honour guard on horseback and a lavish dinner in the East Room, which included guests such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook and football star Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for Saudi team Al-Nassr.
An all-out wooing of Saudi’s MBS
US President Trump pulled out all the stops for Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a clear indicator of how the American leader views ties with the Kingdom. In fact, even before the Saudi royal arrived in the US, Trump had said: “We’re more than meeting. We’re honouring Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince.”
And it was, indeed, an honouring. US President Trump rolled out the red carpet for the Saudi prince, according him a ceremonial welcome at the White House. The White House’s White House South Lawn was festooned with green Saudi flags. A military band played as the two leaders stood together and watched F-35 fighter jets fly overhead.
Trump also criticised his predecessor Joe Biden for greeting Prince Mohammed with a fist bump during his 2022 visit to Saudi Arabia. “When you get out of the plane and you get the future king — and a man who is one of the most respected people in the world — you shake his hand, you don’t give him a fist bump, right?” Trump said. “Trump doesn’t give a fist bump. I grab that hand.”
Following their bilateral meeting, Trump and First Lady Melania also hosted MBS for a lavish dinner, which was attended by tech titans Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, along with administration officials such as Vice President JD Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as well as US House Speaker Mike Johnson. Musk’s presence at the event was notable given his falling-out with the president earlier this year.
Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was also present at the dinner with the US president giving him a shoutout, noting that he introduced his son Barron to the football star.
They dined on a pistachio-crusted rack of lamb, followed by a couverture mousse pear for dessert.
A brushing aside of Khashoggi’s killing
After giving MBS a red carpet welcome, the two proceeded for bilateral talks at the Oval Office. It was here that journalists present asked questions pertaining to the killing of Saudi journalist, and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi back in 2018. For those unaware, the Washington Post journalist was killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, with US intelligence saying Prince Mohammad likely approved the slaying.
However, before MBS could respond to the question being asked, Trump raged at the ABC journalist for embarrassing the Saudi royal on his first US trip since the murder, and called Khashoggi “extremely controversial”.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” said Trump. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happened, but he (the prince) knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
The US president even suggested that ABC should lose its broadcasting licence over the question.
Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed said, “It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia. We did all the right steps of investigation, etc, in Saudi Arabia, and we’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that again. And it’s painful, and it was a huge mistake.”
Trump later commended the Saudi leader for strides made by the kingdom on human rights without providing any specific detail but presumably referring to reforms relating to women’s rights. “What’s he done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else,” Trump said.
However, after the meeting, the Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, said in a post on X there was “no justification to murder my husband” and urged the Saudi prince to “meet me, apologise and compensate me”.
Sale of F-35 jets and defence cooperation
Even ahead of MBS’ visit to Washington, Trump had confirmed he will authorise the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia . And during the meeting with MBS, Trump said the jets would not be downgraded to ensure Israel’s military superiority in the region, a departure from a US policy known as “qualitative military edge”.
“They’d like you to get planes of reduced calibre. I don’t think that makes you too happy,” he told the Saudi crown prince. “They’ve been a great ally. Israel has been a great ally, and we’re looking at that exactly right now. But as far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line.”
Besides the sale of the jets, Trump also said that the US and Saudi Arabia have “pretty much reached an agreement” on a defence pact. Details of the negotiation are not clear, but Riyadh has been seeking a mutual defence pact with Washington similar to Nato’s Article Five , which would see the US come to the kingdom’s aid if it fell under attack.
Movement on Saudi-Israel ties
Recently, Trump has been quite vocal that he would like Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, which established formal relations between Israel and several Arab countries. And at the White House meeting, Prince Mohammed and Trump signalled possible progress on the issue without providing details or a timeline for a potential deal.
The crown prince, however, did reiterate that Riyadh wants to advance the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of a potential agreement.
“We believe having a good relation with all Middle Eastern countries is a good thing, and we want to be part of the Abraham Accords,” Prince Mohammed told reporters.
“But we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path [to a] two-state solution. And today we have a healthy discussion with Mr President that we’ve got to work on that, to be sure that we can prepare the right situation as soon as possible to have that.”
Saudi’s trillion dollar investment
Prince Mohammad also told Trump that his country would be increasing its financial commitments to the US from $600 billion, which was announced during the president’s trip to Riyadh in May, to $1 trillion.
Details of those deals are not immediately clear but are expected to include investments in a variety of American businesses, including artificial intelligence, as well as the purchase of jet engines and other equipment.
The crown prince echoed Trump’s assessment that the US is now the “hottest country” in the world, adding that the kingdom wants to be part of the “foundation of emerging technologies” in the US.
With inputs from agencies