President Donald Trump warmly embraced Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday, feting the fearsome Islamic ruler with a flyover of US fighter jets.
It marks the first White House visit since Saudi agents killed Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
The President, in an apparent breach of royal protocol, placed his hand on Prince Mohammed’s back as warplanes soared over the White House – a display of deep respect reserved for America’s closest allies.
Trump showed the crown prince his newly decorated ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’. The pair then headed inside for talks with his top team: Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
America’s relationship with the Gulf state was sent into a tailspin after the assassination of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the tyrannical kingdom, which executes some 350 people per year, including political dissidents and homosexuals.
The journalist, who lived in Virginia and worked as a columnist for the Washington Post, was invited to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he was ambushed by 15 agents, suffocated and hacked to pieces. His remains have never been found.
Prince Mohammed has denied any involvement but US intelligence is said to believe it is likely he directed the agents to carry it out.
Despite the stain hanging over the Saudi despot, Trump views him as an indispensable player in shaping the Middle East for decades to come.
Donald Trump greets Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman on the South Lawn at the White House today
Trump rolled out the red carpet for the blood-soaked leader, with warplanes roaring over Washington DC
Trump showed the crown prince his newly decorated ‘Presidential Walk of Fame’ before the pair headed inside for discussions
Trump places a hand on Prince Mohammed’s back as he welcomes him to the White House
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright attend the arrival ceremony of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the South Lawn of the White House
The Trump family also has substantial private business interests in Saudi Arabia, including a colossal residential skyscraper planned for Jeddah.
Though Trump pushed back on this when asked during an Oval Office appearance with the Saudi leader.
‘They do business all over,’ Trump said of his family’s business. ‘They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia.’
In a sign of the deepening ties between America and Saudi Arabia, Trump announced earlier that he would approve the sale of F-35 jets to the Islamic kingdom.
The landmark deal means it becomes the first Middle Eastern country, except for America’s longstanding ally Israel, to access the state-of-the-art fighters.
Besides the F-35 deal, a White House official indicated a working relationship with Israel and a US-Saudi partnership are also on the table for discussion.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, that Saudi Arabia ‘wants to buy.’
‘We will be doing that. We will be selling F-35 jets,’ Trump said. ‘They’ve been a great ally.’
Traditionally, the United States has green-lit the sale of fighter jets to military friends, like countries that are a part of NATO.
This move would effectively change the balance of defense and military power in the region.
In response, Israel has asked the president to ‘condition the sale,’ saying they are not opposed to it, but that it needs to be ‘subject to Saudi normalization of Israel.’
If the US-Saudi fighter jet agreement goes through, Israel may ask for security assurances. It takes just minutes for an F-35 plane to fly from Saudi to Israel.
Analysts say the announcement might not actually result in the country receiving the fighter jets anytime in the near future.
Trump places his hand on the crown prince’s back as the pair watch a military procession
Trump and Prince Mohammed watch a flyover of military aircraft on the South Lawn at the White House
Trump gestures as Prince Mohammed grins as the president shows off the ‘Walk of Fame’
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent walk down the colonnade
Trump and the crown prince chat outside the White House on Tuesday
Trump welcomes the crown prince surrounded by dignitaries and military
A procession of cavalry bearing the green Saudi flag outside the White House
Trump and the crown prince beside the portrait of Joe Biden’s autopen, a dig at the former president
Trump and Prince Mohammed at the colonnade at the White House
Trump and Crown Prince and Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk down the Colonnade on the way to the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on November 18
‘The devil will kind of be in the details there,’ Andrew Leber, a nonresident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has done extensive research on Saudi Arabia, told NBC News.
He noted that a prior deal made with the United Arab Emirates also fell through, saying the same could happen this time around.
Congress could review the potential deal and could stop it from going forward.
The Trump family’s active projects in Saudi Arabia also include plans for a Trump Tower in Riyadh.
The Trump Organization also announced a new project on the heels of Salman’s arrival with their Saudi-linked development partners Dar Global, opening in the Maldives in 2028.
