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Saudi Arabia's crown prince is meeting President Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He's traveling with an entourage of a thousand people, from top ministers and security officials to Saudi business leaders. And as NPR's Aya Batrawy reports, when the two leaders meet, they will be talking about billions in Saudi investments and a coveted U.S. defense pact.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Expect a flurry of deals, a dinner and a major investment forum when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets President Trump in Washington. And there's much to discuss, including the war in Sudan and the ceasefire in Gaza. Trump told reporters there's also Saudi Arabia's ask for F-35 fighter jets, which only Israel currently flies in the Mid East.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, I will say that we will be doing that. We'll be selling F-35s, yeah.
BATRAWY: A major Saudi defense upgrade like that will likely be tied to a bigger ask from the president - a normalization deal that establishes diplomatic ties with Israel. But Saudi Arabia's crown prince is in no rush to strike a deal with Israel right now. Paul Salem, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, says Prince Mohammed, also known as MBS, has to consider Saudi public anger at Israel's war in Gaza that began October 7, two years ago.
PAUL SALEM: So what was possible before October 7 for Saudi Arabia is absolutely no longer possible, and the crown prince says it to his interlocutors straight out that, yes, maybe I would be interested in doing it even without major concessions, but I can't. MBS is a very popular leader among the younger generation, and he wants to keep it that way.
BATRAWY: So while the crown jewel of Trump's Abraham Accords deals remains elusive, the trip could produce a Saudi defense pact with the U.S. at a time when Iran's under pressure and could retaliate against Gulf Arab states if attacked again by Israel. And for the two leaders, this trip to Washington fortifies their personal ties, or what analysts say is a transactional relationship girded by business. Raghida Dergham, chair of the Beirut Institute think tank, says there's a blurred line between Trump's family business and his administration.
RAGHIDA DERGHAM: They don't hide it. You know, they don't make that a secret. They think this is part of what happens anywhere in the world. But it's very unlike the traditions of the United States because you separate family from country. But I think with the Trump presidency, sometimes it's family first.
BATRAWY: There are several Trump-branded golf courses and towers being developed across the Gulf by a private Saudi developer. And the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, got seed money to start his private equity fund from a sovereign wealth fund overseen by the crown prince - $2 billion worth, according to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. The White House says there's no conflict of interest and that the president's not making money off his position, that he left a life of luxury for public service - twice.
For the Saudi crown prince, this trip to Washington marks a turning point. His last visit seven years ago came just months before his aides killed Saudi critic and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. At the time, the prince was shunned by the West. And despite a continued clampdown on critics, Trump has hailed him as a great leader who stays up all night trying to make his country better.
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TRUMP: He tosses and turns - like some of us - tosses and turns all night. How do I make it even better? All night. It's the ones that don't toss and turn, they're the ones that will never take you to the promised land. Won't they? But you have done some job.
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TRUMP: True.
BATRAWY: That was Trump speaking in Saudi Arabia in May, where he was met with pomp and fanfare on his first overseas trip of his second term.
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BATRAWY: He'd arrived in Saudi Arabia with a huge entourage of top American executives. They all lined up to meet Prince Mohammed. And as he did then in Riyadh, Trump is expected to use tomorrow's meeting at the White House to say that the big money deals signed with Saudi Arabia create jobs in the U.S., just as the economy is forefront on voters' minds. Aya Batrawy, NPR News, Dubai. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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