President Donald Trump is gearing up to host Saudi Arabia’s influential Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House in a manner befitting a state visit. According to insiders, the event will feature a morning welcome ceremony followed by a formal dinner in the evening.
“We’re honoring Saudi Arabia, the Crown Prince,” Trump stated.
Despite the grand plans, the visit won’t qualify as an official state visit since Prince bin Salman is not the head of state for Saudi Arabia.
One major topic on Trump’s agenda will be encouraging Saudi Arabia to establish formal ties with Israel, an initiative he is optimistic about following his role in brokering a ceasefire in the recent Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
The normalization talks, which had gained momentum during Trump’s first term and continued under President Biden, were largely paused after the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack in Israel and the subsequent conflict.
Prior to these attacks, discussions had been underway about a potential framework involving a U.S. defense treaty with Saudi Arabia and assistance in developing a civilian nuclear program, all in exchange for diplomatic relations with Israel.
Biden and many of his top aides have said they believe the October 7 attack was intended, in part, to obstruct the normalization talks.
Now that a ceasefire is in place, Trump believes a deal can be quickly reached.
“I hope to see Saudi Arabia go in, and I hope to see others go in,” Trump told Fox News last month. “I think they’re going to all go in very soon.”
Still, some hurdles remain in getting the crown prince on board. While he and Trump are expected to sign a defense cooperation agreement Tuesday, it falls short of the treaty under discussion in earlier phases of normalisation discussions, the US official said.
A formal treaty would require congressional approval.
Saudi Arabia has also said a condition to normalizing ties with Israel is a “credible” and “irreversible” pathway to Palestinian statehood, which the Gaza plan Trump helped broker stops short of providing.
American officials were nonetheless hopeful about making progress on the issue during Tuesday’s meeting.
Kushner has long had a close, personal relationship with the Saudi prince, and has been deployed several times in recent months to use his ties to Mideast leaders to help lay the groundwork for Trump’s agenda and build upon the Abraham Accords.
The Trump Organization, which is being run by the president’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, is involved in major real estate projects in Saudi Arabia.
Kushner also has significant business ties to the country. Kushner’s investment fund, Affinity Partners, has raised billions of dollars in capital from Saudi Arabia.
