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The White House has confirmed that President Donald Trump held his first official foreign leader call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Some shit you should know about Saudi-US relations before you dig in: Over the last four years, US relations with Saudi Arabia have faced significant challenges as the Saudis have strengthened ties with China and Russia. Under the Biden administration, tensions emerged over issues such as human rights, the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and Saudi Arabia’s oil production policies, which at times clashed with US interests. Meanwhile, China sought to leverage this strain, lobbying Saudi Arabia to sell oil in Chinese yuan instead of the US dollar, a move that could undermine the petrodollar system. Saudi Arabia has also been on the fence about joining the BRICS economic bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), further solidifying its economic and political partnerships with Beijing and Moscow.
What’s going on now: In a readout provided by the White House, they confirmed that both leaders discussed stabilizing the Middle East, bolstering regional security, and combating terrorism. A major highlight of the conversation was Saudi Arabia’s announcement of its intention to invest $600 billion in the United States over the next four years, with the potential for even greater economic collaboration. Speaking about the investment during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump expressed his desire to increase this amount, stating, “I’ll be asking the crown prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1 trillion. I think they’ll do that, because we’ve been very good to them.”
Additionally, Trump stressed the importance of Saudi cooperation in reducing oil prices, a move he suggested could bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. “You’ve got to bring it down, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do before the election,” he said.
Criticism from some: This all comes as some on the left have criticized Donald Trump’s close ties to Saudi Arabia, pointing to both his financial interests and his family’s business dealings with the kingdom. Critics point to the Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s significant $2 billion investment in Jared Kushner’s private equity firm, which came shortly after Kushner left his role as a White House adviser in 2020 and helped facilitate US-Saudi relations during Trump’s presidency.
