President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman during bilateral talks in Riyadh, May 20, 2017. Photo credit: AP
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said Thursday (January 23, 2025) that Saudi Arabia wants to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years. This came after President Donald Trump put a price tag on the initial Saudi return. Foreign travel.
Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in 2017 bucked the tradition of US presidents heading to the UK on their first foreign trip. The real estate company that bears his name also has deals throughout the region, highlighting his government’s close ties to the rulers of the oil-rich Gulf states.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s comments, reported by the state-run Saudi Press Agency early Thursday (January 23, 2025), were delivered during a telephone conversation with President Trump.
Saudi Arabia’s dependence on US weapons and defense systems
“The crown prince confirmed Saudi Arabia’s intention to increase investment and trade with the United States by $600 billion, and potentially more, over the next four years,” the report said.
The report does not elaborate on where these investments or transactions will take place. In recent years, the United States has increasingly retreated from dependence on Saudi oil exports, once the bedrock of the bilateral relationship for decades. While Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has acquired large stakes in American companies, it has also turned its attention to sports.
But Saudi Arabia relies primarily on US-made weapons and defense systems, which could be part of the investment.
There was no immediate report from the White House about the call. It was also not immediately clear whether Trump’s call with the crown prince was his first with a foreign leader since returning to the White House. However, this was the first time it was reported overseas.
The crown prince, the oil-rich kingdom’s de facto ruler, also met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio early Thursday.
On Monday, after taking office, Trump spoke about the possibility of heading to Saudi Arabia again for his first overseas trip, as he did in 2017.
“Normally, your first foreign trip is to the United Kingdom, but last time we went to Saudi Arabia because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our products,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. he said. “If Saudi Arabia wants to buy another $450 billion or $500, which we’ll increase to account for inflation, I think they’ll probably go.”
His visit to Saudi Arabia in 2017 sparked a year-long boycott of Qatar by four Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Trump maintained close ties with Saudi Arabia even after Crown Prince Mohammed was implicated in the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Saudi Arabia has also been in talks for years with the Biden administration about a wide-ranging agreement to diplomatically recognize Israel in exchange for U.S. defense protection and other assistance.
The $600 billion pledge, which would dwarf the gross domestic product of many countries, also comes as Saudi Arabia faces its own budget pressures. Global oil prices have been depressed for years since the height of the coronavirus pandemic, impacting Saudi revenue.
Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed also wants to continue a $500 billion project in NEOM, a new city in Saudi Arabia’s western desert on the Red Sea. Tens of billions of dollars worth of new stadiums and infrastructure will also need to be built ahead of hosting the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
issued – January 23, 2025 11:56 AM IST
