Saudi Arabia wants a defense agreement with the United States

According to a report by the British daily The Financial Times, during this visit, the Saudi Crown Prince aims to sign a defense agreement with the United States similar to Qatar's. Following Israel’s recent attack on Doha, U.S. President Donald Trump signed such an executive agreement with Qatar.
 

The United States’ largest military base in the Middle East is located in Qatar’s Al-Udeid area. Although relations between Saudi Arabia and Qatar are now normal, Qatar faced a Saudi-led blockade from 2017 to 2021. During that time, ideological divisions among Arab and Muslim countries became evident.
 

Currently, there are three U.S. airbases in Saudi Arabia, mainly situated in the western region near the Red Sea.

The report states that, in light of recent regional instability, Saudi Arabia is now keen to strengthen military and intelligence cooperation with the United States.
 

The most important point is that Saudi Arabia knows it now has a very supportive U.S. president.

Trump’s first and second foreign trips during both of his terms were to Saudi Arabia. He has always taken the side of the Arab Gulf countries especially those that spend the most money in the United States and support businesses connected to him. He has also refrained from criticizing Saudi Arabia on human rights issues.
 

Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who was involved this month in developing a Gaza ceasefire plan, maintains close financial ties with Saudi Arabia. His investment firm, Affinity Partners, recently joined Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to acquire gaming giant Electronic Arts (EA).

 

This relationship marks a dramatic turning point between Trump and Mohammed bin Salman especially considering that during the Biden administration, the Crown Prince was seen on the international stage as almost a “pariah.” However, even then, Biden himself visited Riyadh to request an increase in global energy supplies
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The United States was going through a difficult time due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war.

Since that period, the two countries had been holding behind-the-scenes talks to include Saudi Arabia in the “Abraham Accords,” although those discussions came to a halt after Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza.
 

Although a partial ceasefire is currently in effect, Israel’s brutality in Gaza and airstrikes across seven countries over the past two years have made the possibility of expanding that agreement at the November summit appear slim.
 

During his 2018 visit, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was given a lavish reception across the United States. He met with top figures in politics, technology, and Hollywood, and pledged massive investments. At the time, he was seen as a symbol of a modern and reformist Saudi leader.
 

However, that image collapsed later that same year, in October, when journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul an act widely believed to have been carried out under the Crown Prince’s orders.