What to Expect From the Saudi Crown Prince’s White House Visit

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, there will be several crucial issues on the agenda, including a potential US-Saudi defense agreement and the Trump administration’s push for Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel.

The defense agreement on the table is said to be similar to the one Trump agreed with Qatar in September, in which the US committed to treating any attack on Qatar as a threat to US security and “to take all lawful and appropriate measures – including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military – to defend the interests of the United States and the State of Qatar and restore peace and stability.” More importantly, this agreement was merely an executive order, which, unlike the treaty ratified by the Senate, carried essentially no legal weight and could easily be undone by any future president.

When Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, there will be several crucial issues on the agenda, including a potential US-Saudi defense agreement and the Trump administration’s push for Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel.

The defense agreement on the table is said to be similar to the one Trump agreed with Qatar in September, in which the US committed to treating any attack on Qatar as a threat to US security and “to take all lawful and appropriate measures – including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military – to defend the interests of the United States and the State of Qatar and restore peace and stability.” More importantly, this agreement was merely an executive order, which, unlike the treaty ratified by the Senate, carried essentially no legal weight and could easily be undone by any future president.

If the US-Saudi defense agreement consists of nothing stronger than an executive order, it will be nothing more than a symbolic gesture. However, even a symbolic pledge to treat the attack on Saudi Arabia as a threat to the United States may face opposition from the “America First” wing of the Republican Party. Trump has already faced sharp criticism from some of his supporters for enhancing security cooperation with Qatar.

What may be more important is the deal to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. US officials have reportedly raised concerns that such a deal would increase the risk of China obtaining advanced stealth aircraft technology, whether through espionage or deepening security cooperation between Beijing and Riyadh. Israel, a key US ally, is also the only country in the Middle East that currently has F-35s, and does not want to see its military superiority undermined. However, recent reports indicate that Trump is likely to reach an agreement with the Saudi Crown Prince to sell the planes, although it is unclear whether congress might move to prevent this.

The White House declined to provide further details about the potential defense agreement or F-35 deal when asked Foreign policy Friday. The department noted that although the State Department generally oversees foreign military sales and provides final approval as part of an interagency process Foreign policy to the Pentagon when asked about a potential F-35 deal. The Pentagon noted Foreign policy To the White House.

Saudi Arabia is also demanding US help develop a civilian nuclear program as well as increased access to advanced artificial intelligence chips. Although the Trump administration has expressed its pleasure in helping Saudi Arabia develop a nuclear energy program, concerns have also been raised about whether this would eventually open the door for the kingdom to develop a nuclear weapon. Likewise, and similar to the potential F-35 deal, Riyadh’s relationship with Beijing has also raised concerns in Washington about enhancing cooperation with the kingdom in the field of artificial intelligence.

From the American side, Trump is expected to continue pressuring Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, which saw a number of Muslim-majority Arab countries normalize relations with Israel.

But Riyadh has repeatedly stated that it will not join the agreements until there is a clear path towards establishing a Palestinian state. There are significant obstacles to this, including the fact that the Israeli government strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state. Although US policy has been supportive of a two-state solution for decades, Trump has presented an ambiguous position on the issue, and other steps he has taken as president have been criticized as undermining that goal. For example, Trump said at the UN General Assembly in late September that recognizing Palestinian statehood rewards Hamas. When asked about a two-state solution in mid-October, Trump said: “We’ll have to see.”

But in what could be seen as an attempt to address Riyadh’s concerns about the issue, the United States last week submitted a revised draft resolution on Trump’s Gaza peace plan to the UN Security Council that includes a reference to the path to establishing a Palestinian state. However, the language remains quite vague and comes with conditions, and is unlikely to go far enough for Riyadh to change its position. Trump’s willingness to sign new security agreements with Saudi Arabia may also be aimed at softening its position.

Tuesday’s White House visit will be Mohammed bin Salman’s first trip to the United States since the brutal killing The Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, and the trip indicates how Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler has managed to continue expanding his kingdom’s global influence despite these controversies.

US intelligence concluded that Mohammed bin Salman personally approved the operation that led to Khashoggi’s killing, an act that was condemned by the world and created a dangerous rift between Washington and Riyadh. But Saudi Arabia’s influence in the Gulf and vast oil reserves helped Mohammed bin Salman overcome this division.

Former US President Joe Biden took office vowing to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah,” but ultimately ended up visiting the country and meeting with Mohammed bin Salman while pushing Riyadh to increase oil production amid war-related shortages in Ukraine.

Trump, who has never hidden his admiration for Mohammed bin Salman and bragged about protecting the Saudi ruler from the violent backlash over Khashoggi’s killing, has sought to strengthen relations between Washington and Riyadh for years. Trump visited Riyadh in May as part of his first foreign trip in his second term. Trump said about Mohammed bin Salman during the visit: “I love him very much.” “I love him so much.” During that visit, Trump signed deals with Mohammed bin Salman worth $600 billion.