Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman congratulated Donald Trump on his return to the White House, saying in a call on Thursday that the kingdom would massively expand its investment and trade with the United States.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler passed on congratulations from his father, King Salman, during the call with Trump, according to a foreign ministry statement.
The crown prince added that the kingdom would “expand its investment and trade with the United States to $600 billion over four years, and potentially beyond that”.
During his first stint in office, Trump quickly courted Saudi Arabia, long an important energy and security partner for Washington.
His first overseas visit in 2017 was to the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he basked in an elaborate welcome involving a sword dance and a fly-past of air force jets.
Relations later cooled with Prince Mohammed faulting Trump for failing to respond more aggressively after a 2019 attack widely blamed on Iran halved the Gulf kingdom’s crude output.
Riyadh and Trump’s team nevertheless sought to boost ties after his departure from the White House, in particular via investments and construction deals for his privately owned conglomerate the Trump Organization.
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, has also defended receiving a Saudi investment in his private equity firm that reports put at $2 billion.
While on the campaign trail, Joe Biden criticised Saudi Arabia harshly for human rights abuses, including the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But the relationship with then-president Biden’s administration dramatically improved, and the two sides attempted to negotiate a so-called mega-deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel in exchange for a defence pact with the United States and help on a civilian nuclear programme.
That deal was put on ice after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 2023, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.
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