Description: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) was warmly welcomed by US President Donald Trump as the leaders discussed plethora of issues and explored venues for potential close cooperation. Trump used the opportunity to designate Saudi Arabia a major non – NATO US ally but fell short of officializing the status through a detailed document which could have been ratified in Congress. MBS and Trump also inaugurated several memorandums of understanding in sectors of cooperation such as arms sales, civil nuclear development, artificial intelligence and critical minerals. The Abraham Accords were also mentioned in collusion with the projected arms sales of up to 48 F – 35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, where the US risks threatening Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge in the region. MBS stated that Saudi Arabia’s stance was clear and that his country was open to joining the Accords with precondition that a two – state solution to the Palestinian question is publicly endorsed by Israel and diplomatic and concrete steps are undertaken for its accomplishment. The Crown Prince also faced some scrutiny when he was asked by reporters whether he was involved in the 2018 assassination of Saudi dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. Trump interceded publicly defending the Prince while MBS himself stated that the entire situation has been an unfortunate incident and a grave mistake on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
Impact: The Prince’s visit to the US pried open the ambiguous relationship between Saudi Arabia and the US. Outside of public praises, MBS was left empty handed from his visit in Washington as no concrete pledges on behalf of the US were made to Saudi Arabia, while the entire defense sector agreement would probably be conditioned with Saudi Arabia’s accession of the Abraham Accords. The meeting strengthened strategic ties and reaffirmed the alliance, however, it fell short of delivering concise commitments from both countries, such as the US endorsement of a two – state solution regarding Palestine or Saudi Arabia’s clear affirmation of their intentions to normalize ties with Israel. Sentiments were mirrored from Trump’s visit of the Kingdom in May, when the entire focus was securing enormous investment guarantees which serve as major commitments in ensuring the long-lasting strategic alignment between the US and Saudi Arabia. The focus of the signed memorandums is the concluded cooperation in sectors such as civil nuclear development and critical minerals which are one of the foreign priorities for the US in their attempts to hamper China’s global dominance. The meeting was conclusively a reassuring assertion of long – term strategic posturing without any significant commitments except for the potential of Saudi Arabia acquiring the F – 35 fighter jets, which would impact the balance of power in the region and substantially bolster the Kingdom’s conventional military capabilities.