Aya Batrawi
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He returns to Washington now with power consolidated at home and top U.S.
CEOs eager for more business with the kingdom.
defense pact, new deals in AI, and he's eyeing the purchase of advanced F-35 jets that only Israel currently flies in the Mideast.
Aya Batraoui, NPR News, Dubai.
The last time Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington was seven years ago, just before his aides killed Saudi critic and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, sparking international outcry.
But the heir to the Saudi throne returns to Washington as a partner, not a pariah.
The prince, known also for major social and economic reforms that have changed life in Saudi Arabia, has vowed hundreds of billions of dollars in investments in the U.S.
He's expected to ask for F-35 fighter jets, advanced AI chips, nuclear technology, and a defense pact that wouldn't require congressional approval.
Underpinning those talks are personal ties between Trump and Prince Mohammed.
That was on display in May when the president chose Saudi Arabia again as his first overseas trip.
And those personal ties mixed with business as billions from the Gulf flow into Trump's family ventures.
Israel's military says two soldiers were killed in an attack in southern Gaza, sparking a wave of airstrikes that killed Palestinians, many of them women and children, over the weekend.
Israel says it also dropped more than 120 bombs on a Hamas tunnel.
A Hamas official who spoke anonymously to NPR in order to brief the media says it was rogue militants who carried out the deadly attack on Israeli troops.
President Trump also told reporters that, quote, rebels were behind the attack.
Meanwhile, White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are visiting Israel to discuss next steps of the ceasefire.
A senior Hamas delegation is also visiting Egypt for similar discussions.