President Donald Trump said the US would now consider Saudi Arabia a major non-Nato ally and announced the two countries had signed a ‘historic’ defence agreement.
The announcement came as Saudi Crown and Prime Minister Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited the White House. It will make it easier for the US to share military technology with Saudi Arabia and increase security co-operation. It is also used as symbol of close ties.
“We’re taking our military co-operation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major, non-Nato ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Trump said at a dinner with the Crown Prince.
Only 19 other countries have been given the designation. Trump’s announcement came after he welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House, where the President touted bilateral deals on nuclear energy and critical minerals.
Speaking alongside Trump in the Oval Office earlier, the Crown Prince also promised an increase in investment in the US to $1 trillion, up from a pledge in May of $600 billion.
He was greeted with a display of pomp and ceremony, including a military honour guard, a cannon salute and a fly-past of US F-35 and F-16 fighter jets.
Trump hailed Saudi Arabia ‘a great ally’. The Saudi leader said there was ‘no limit’ to the scope of business between the two countries.
The timeline for fulfilling that investment commitment, as well as other deals including the sale of F-35s, were among the main topics of discussion.
The White House said the two leaders had signed the ‘historic’ US-Saudi Strategic Defence Agreement, which “strengthens our more than 80-year defence partnership and fortifies deterrence across the Middle East”. The deal makes it easier for US defence companies to operate in Saudi Arabia.
“The President secured agreements reinforcing America’s role as a regional security enabler, enhancing our US military partnerships to better allow partners to deter and defeat threats,” the White House said, adding that Trump had also approved a major defence sale package.
The White House said the US and Saudi Arabia had also signed a deal on nuclear co-operation, cementing a “decades-long, multibillion-dollar” energy partnership.
It emphasised that all co-operation would be “conducted in a manner consistent with strong non-proliferation standards”.
Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also signed a ‘landmark’ artificial intelligence agreement that gives Saudi Arabia access to “to world-leading American systems while protecting US technology from foreign influence”.
Meanwhile, the Treasury Department and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement aimed at advancing the countries’ priorities at the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and G20. They also signed an agreement on improving efficiency of capital markets activity between the two, the Treasury Department said.
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