Washington increasingly has to negotiate from a position not of absolute dominance, but of relative advantage
Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman’s November visit to Washington marked his first appearance at the White House in seven years.
On day one, Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet on the South Lawn, followed by one-on-one talks, expanded delegations, and a formal state dinner. By the end of the visit, Washington had announced Saudi Arabia’s designation as a Major Non-NATO Ally, signed a Strategic Defense Agreement that paves the way for Riyadh to acquire F-35 fighter jets and hundreds of American tanks, and unveiled a package of deals on civil nuclear cooperation, critical minerals, easing export controls on advanced chips and building out artificial intelligence infrastructure. The Saudi side, for its part, pledged massive investments in the US – starting in the hundreds of billions and reaching toward the symbolic threshold of one trillion dollars – spanning defense, energy, AI, and core infrastructure.
The agenda extended well beyond White House ceremony into an intense round of political and business engagement. On Capitol Hill, the crown prince met the Speaker of the House, key committee chairs, and senators from both parties. The discussions ranged over security in the Persian Gulf, Iran, the situation in and around Gaza and the broader shape of the US-Saudi partnership. A separate focal point was a US-Saudi investment forum on AI and energy in Washington, including an event at the Kennedy Center, where the crown prince, Trump and the heads of major tech companies and investment funds discussed building vast data centers in the kingdom and joint ventures with Nvidia, xAI and other players. Taken together, the visit was choreographed as the opening of a ‘new chapter’ in the strategic alliance – a political rehabilitation of Mohammed bin Salman in Washington paired with the consolidation of Saudi Arabia’s status as a central US partner in defense, energy and the emerging global infrastructure of artificial intelligence.
Just three years ago, Washington was glaring suspiciously at Riyadh. Joe Biden had vowed to make Mohammed bin Salman a “pariah,” relations with the kingdom were under review, and arms sales to one of America’s closest Middle Eastern allies had been effectively put on hold. This week, the picture could not be more different. The crown prince walks into the Oval Office as an honored guest and Donald Trump defends him so energetically that he rebukes a reporter for “trying to embarrass our guest” when she asks about the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Behind this theater of protocol lies a serious political story. Some of the deals outlined during the visit directly or indirectly intersect with the Trump family’s business interests.
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