MBS-Trump summit is all about defence and business

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s highly anticipated visit to Washington this week represents both a recognition of Saudi Arabia’s elevated geostrategic role and an opportunity to advance mutual interests in areas from defence to technology, according to analysts.

Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman speaks during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on November 18, 2025. © Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters

• Crown prince in Washington Nov 18-19

• To meet Trump in White House

• First visit since 2018

When they meet at the White House on Tuesday, the Saudi ruler and President Donald Trump will walk a fine line on issues such as oil prices, normalisation of Riyadh’s relationship with Israel under the Abraham Accords, and their competing efforts to attract more foreign investment into their respective economies.

But a common focus on industries such as artificial intelligence and energy and a drive to clinch business deals may pave the way for a successful trip, which will also include a black-tie dinner and an investment forum.

A flurry of high-level preparatory meetings has taken place in the US and Saudi capitals. Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al Rumayyan met with treasury secretary Scott Bessent; Saudi defence minister Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz held talks with secretary of state Marco Rubio, defence secretary Pete Hegseth and special envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff; and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, met with the crown prince in Riyadh.

Rubio told reporters last Wednesday that he expects to see “some good agreements” signed.

“A lot of progress has been made since the president’s visit there, so we’re working through that,” Rubio said. “I feel good about where it’s at. There’s still a few things that need to be tightened up and finalised, and we’re going to have a good meeting next week.”

Trump traveled to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar in mid-May. That trip yielded hundreds of billions of dollars of tentative deals in AI, aviation, healthcare and other sectors.

The crown prince’s visit to the White House is his first since 2018 and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“The US and Saudi Arabia are looking at it as a way to build on Trump’s visit earlier this year and to reframe ties that had been somewhat frayed,” Nate Hodson, an Albright Stonebridge Group associate partner who covers the Middle East and North Africa, told AGBI.

Saudis seek security

This trip is expected to zoom in on a security pact that Saudi Arabia is aggressively seeking as the Gulf continues to be rocked by military threats, such as Israel’s September strike on Hamas in Doha.

The Saudis want “a defence arrangement that delivers”, and “guarantees, not gestures”, said Hisham Alghanname, who heads the Security Research Center of Naif Arab University for Security in Riyadh, during an event hosted by the Arab Gulf States Institute.

Any such arrangement is likely to fall between a treaty, an unlikely candidate for US Senate ratification, and Trump’s executive order from September guaranteeing Qatar’s security.

That directive would not necessarily survive a new administration, and falls short of what Saudi Arabia wants, according to analysts.

Prince Mohammed’s trip is also expected to prompt more deals, and to bring earlier ones from signing to implementation.

“We want to continue to work with our partners in governments to operationalise these frameworks and see them evolve into transformative investment and project opportunities and joint ventures,” Steve Lutes, the US Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for the Middle East, said.

Lutes added that the US Chamber is “very much committed” to continue efforts “to strengthen, grow and diversify our US-Saudi economic partnership” after the visit ends.

Top of the agenda in Washington will be moving forward with transfers of the most advanced US chips from Nvidia and AMD to American or Saudi companies in the kingdom.

Michael Ratney, a former US ambassador to Saudi Arabia, described the kingdom and the UAE as “frustrated” that neither the Biden nor Trump administrations have yet designed “a predictable, reliable export regime” for such sensitive technologies.

“The Saudis have huge ambitions. They want to develop their own artificial intelligence industry,” Ratney said in an interview earlier this month with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“But I think they’re going to want some kind of solid assurance that the US is going to be there as a partner.”

Critical minerals, agriculture and logistics are among other sectors likely to produce announcements, according to Hodson. The Saudis have also been pushing for a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the US.

By Valentina Pasquali

November 17, 2025, 2:28 AM