Why Trump is rolling out the red carpet for the Saudi crown prince
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Why is Trump welcoming the Saudi crown prince?
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Thanks. Good morning. It's Tuesday, November 18th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, FEMA's acting head, the second one this year, is out. Why it's easier than you think to rob a French museum. And if you're planning to buy a big bird for Thanksgiving, be prepared for sticker shock.
But first, Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is set to meet with President Trump at the White House today. He's expected to receive a red carpet welcome complete with pageantry, the Oval Office photo op, and a weapons deal.
I think this trip is really the culmination of a years-long effort at trying to restore the Saudi crown prince's international standing after the death of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Matthew Martin is the Saudi Arabia bureau chief for Semaphore. He told us that bin Salman has been on a mission to rebuild his reputation after the CIA concluded he approved the killing of the journalist Khashoggi, something he's always denied.
I think it's going to be a real coup for this sort of Saudi's ability to take a slow and steady approach to rebuilding the crown prince's reputation, which is now going to be sort of back at the level that you would have seen it in 2017 when he was being feted by world leaders as a reformer and as Saudi Arabia's best chance of success and development and modernization.
While campaigning ahead of his 2020 win, Joe Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia a pariah. But the country's strategic importance and its oil revenues apparently proved too important for him to really turn his back. Relations slowly began to recover, and Trump has since embraced the crown prince as a great ally. Martin told us that, above all, will today be demonstrated in military terms.
Number one on the list is going to be some sort of defence agreement and perhaps even a mutual defence commitment between the two countries as the Saudis look at taking more steps to guarantee their security in an unstable region.
Yesterday, Trump promised to sell powerful F-35 fighter jets to Saudi, a big win. Typically, the U.S. only sells those to formal military allies, and Israel is the only country in the Middle East to have them. But Israeli officials have reportedly asked the administration to ensure any deal on those F-35s is conditional on the kingdom agreeing to normalize relations with their country.
The Saudis have not wanted to move on normalisation. They are very keen to use this as leverage to be able to say to Israel, you know, we're prepared to normalise, but you have to take irreversible steps towards the recognition of a Palestinian state. The Saudis, I think, prepare to be very supportive of this transition. They've been supportive of the Trump peace deal that was announced recently.
A lot of money is at stake in this visit as well. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia pledged to invest $600 billion in the U.S., and a separate event after the White House visit is intended to link American and Saudi business leaders for future opportunities. The meeting comes as the Trump Organization, which is currently run by the president's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, is set to be in talks for various real estate deals in the country, adding to a broader Middle East portfolio while further blurring the lines between Trump as diplomat and as businessman.
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