Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Trump on Wednesday that the kingdom intends to increase investment and trade with the United States by at least $600 billion over the next four years. according to Official press agency of Saudi Arabia.
The crown prince, Saudi Arabia's de facto leader, told Trump that his new administration has the ability to create “unprecedented economic prosperity” in the United States and that the kingdom wants to participate, the Saudi Press Agency said in a statement.
The White House said the call was Mr Trump's first meeting with a foreign leader and said the meeting discussed the Middle East as well as the kingdom's “international economic ambitions” and ways to “enhance mutual prosperity”. two countries.
Mr. Trump has promised to help accelerate investment in the United States, especially to revive manufacturing. While campaigning last year, he said he would use a a mix of tax cuts and tariffs forcing companies to invest in the United States.
Tuesday, Mr. Trump Stargate announcedOpenAI is a joint venture between SoftBank and Oracle that aims to create artificial intelligence infrastructure worth at least $100 billion. The initiative could invest up to $500 billion over four years.
Saudi Arabia was Mr Trump's first stop on his first foreign trip as president in 2017, a reflection of the importance he placed on his relationship with the crown prince. During this time, the United States made major deals with the kingdom, including arms sales.
Since then, Mr. Trump and his family have signed several personal business deals in the Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The Trump Organization announced several projects in Saudi Arabia in December and also unveiled the $533 million Trump Tower in Jeddah with Dar Global, the global arm of Saudi Arabia's Dar Al Arkan real estate company. Both Dar Al Arkan and its subsidiary Dar Global are private companies, but they exist close ties to the Saudi government.
So is Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump's son-in-law He invested 2 billion dollars from a Saudi government fund for a private equity firm six months after Mr. Trump leaves the White House in 2021.
“One thing is for sure, Trump and MBS are both fluent in the language of business,” said Salman al-Ansari, a geopolitical analyst from Saudi Arabia, using widely circulated information. abbreviation of the name of the crown prince.
Mr. Trump told reporters In the Oval Office on Monday, he said Saudi Arabia was his first foreign stop in his previous term because “they agreed to buy $450 billion of our product.”
If Saudi Arabia wanted to “buy another 450 or 500,” he said of his first overseas trip in his second term, “I would probably go there.”
In the spring, before he was elected, Mr. Trump spoke with the crown prince. It was not clear what they discussed or whether it was the only conversation they had since Mr Trump left office.
During the campaign, Mr. Trump he said “Al Arabiya” television channel, which belongs to Saudi Arabia, said that it “has great respect for Muhammad, who has done great things.”
Despite the CIA assessment, Mr. Trump stood by the crown prince after the 2018 killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. the crown prince probably approved the killing and dismemberment Mr. Khashoggi.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also spoke with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, where they discussed “the strength of the US-Saudi partnership during this momentous period of change,” the State Department read. When he was a senator in 2018, Mr. Rubio said, “no doubt“The Saudi crown prince was involved in Khashoggi's murder.
Another issue in the focus of the Trump administration is to convince Saudi Arabia to join this organization The Abrahamic CovenantsA deal brokered by Mr. Trump in his first term resulted in several Arab countries establishing formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
In a reading carried by the Saudi Press Agency early on Thursday, the Saudis said Mr Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed had also discussed “ways to promote peace, security and stability in the Middle East”, although the statement did not mention any discussions. on the potential expansion of these agreements.
Mr. Trump also discussed these agreements in the Oval Office on Monday. He told reporters: “I think there is no need to push them. I think it will happen, but maybe not quite yet. But they will end with the Abrahamic agreement. Asked when he expected the two sides to sign a new deal, Mr. Trump said, “Soon.”
Last year, Crown Prince Muhammad expressed the existence of the kingdom It will not normalize relations with Israel It took a different position from previous statements, without guaranteeing the recognition of Palestinian statehood.