Overview
President Trump arrived in Saudi Arabia last week to an elaborate welcome, including a personal tarmac greeting from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) — a clear display of the Kingdom’s highest respect. His visit was positively received by Saudi leadership and an excited local public, who viewed it as a vote of confidence for Saudi Arabia’s transformation, its economic and political model, and its growing role on the global stage. For President Trump, it was another opportunity to stray away from American political tradition (first, by the very choice of Saudi Arabia as a destination over more traditional allies in Europe and North America), and double down on his interests-first, transactional approach to foreign policy.
The visit was centered on bringing home business deals, standing in sharp contrast to former President Joe Biden’s 2022 visit, a tense affair following Biden’s characterization of the Kingdom as a “pariah.” Headline announcements during the trip focused on economic agreements from leading U.S. companies in energy, defense, and technology, totaling $283 billion, a number which falls short of the widely touted $600 billion. Most importantly, the deals signal clear encouragement from the White House to the U.S. business community to actively expand commercial cooperation with KSA.
This document summarizes additional key takeaways and strategic implications from President Trump’s visit to KSA, including:
- The Trump administration has unreservedly embraced Saudi Arabia as a key ally and is prioritizing a business-first approach to its relationship with the country.
- Technology – and particularly AI – figured prominently in the visit and will continue to lead as the latest frontier for bilateral U.S.-Saudi cooperation. As of now, investments point to Saudi Arabia binding its AI future away from China and to the U.S.
- Diplomacy was not a significant public feature of the Trump visit, but it still emphasized the increasingly central regional and global role that Saudi Arabia is playing in politics.