Saudi Arabia is a long-standing U.S. ally in the region and a bulwark against aggression from Iran.
President Donald Trump is visiting the Middle East this week—landing in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to kick off the first foreign trip of his second term.
During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Trump announced a lift of sanctions on Syria, as well as a $600 billion Saudi investment in the U.S. economy. As part of that investment, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend over $140 billion to buy weapon systems and technology from the U.S.
Saudi Arabia Is Buying Billions of Dollars’ Worth of American Weapons
As part of the foreign military sales agreement, Saudi Arabia will procure military capabilities for its air force, air defense, navy, ground forces, and information security and communications infrastructure.
“Underscoring our commitment to strengthening our defense and security partnership, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed the largest defense sales agreement in history—nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen U.S. defense firms,” the White House stated in a fact sheet describing the deal. According to the fact sheet, the total Saudi investment in the U.S. economy will be approximately $600 billion—the largest set of commercial agreements on record between the United States and Saudi Arabia. During his visit, Trump said that U.S.-Saudi relations are at an all-time high and were “more powerful than ever before.”
The Middle Eastern country is a long-standing U.S. ally in the region and a bulwark against aggression from Iran.
The Ghost of Jamal Khashoggi No Longer Haunts U.S.-Saudi Relations
Saudi Arabia is an important U.S. ally in the Middle East. However, the ascension of Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman, colloquially known as MBS, to the political forefront in Riyadh initially stretched U.S.-Saudi relations to the limit.
More assertive, independent, and progressive than his predecessors, MBS tried to renegotiate his country’s geopolitical and economic positions vis-à-vis the United States. But relations between the two countries were really derailed after Saudi intelligence officials abducted and murdered Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and an open critic of the Saudi government, in Turkey. The U.S. Intelligence Community went as far as to assess publicly—a very rare move—that the Saudi Crown Prince not only knew about the plot to abduct and kill Khashoggi but that he was the one who approved it.
The U.S. government—then in Trump’s first term—struggled to respond to the incident. Saudi Arabia is an important country in an important region, and Riyadh is part of the pro-U.S. bloc in the region and against Iran. The Middle Eastern country also happens to be one of the largest producers and exporters of oil in the world, with the ability to shape the global economy like few others. On the other end of the scale, however, was a moral obligation to condemn a morally wrong act. Following the U.S. intelligence report, relations between the two countries were initially downgraded. However, Trump declined to cut them off altogether, and his successor, Joe Biden, also maintained ties to MBS—famously giving him a fist bump during a summit meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in July 2022.
Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia and his grand reception by the Saudis show that the U.S. has moved on from the incident, and that relations with Riyadh have thawed.
About the Author: Stavros Atlamazoglou
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a seasoned defense journalist specializing in special operations and a Hellenic Army veteran (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ). He holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University and an MA from the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). His work has been featured in Business Insider, Sandboxx, and SOFREP.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
