Saudi crown prince says kingdom intends to invest $600 billion in US
during call with Trump
Send a link to a friend
 [January 23, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said
Thursday the kingdom wants to invest $600 billion in the United States
over the next four years, comments that came after President Donald
Trump earlier put a price tag on returning to the kingdom as his first
foreign trip.
Trump's 2017 trip to Saudi Arabia upended a tradition of U.S. presidents
first heading to the United Kingdom as their first trip abroad. It also
underscored his administration's close ties to the rulers of the
oil-rich Gulf states as his eponymous real estate company has pursued
deals across the region as well.
The comments from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported early
Thursday by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, came in a phone call with
Trump.
“The crown prince affirmed the kingdom’s intention to broaden its
investments and trade with the United States over the next four years,
in the amount of $600 billion, and potentially beyond that,” the report
said.
The readout did not elaborate on where those investments and trade could
be placed. The U.S. in recent years has increasingly pulled away from
relying on Saudi oil exports, which once was the bedrock of their
relationship for decades. Saudi sovereign wealth funds have taken large
stakes in American businesses while also looking at sports as well.
Saudi Arabia does, however, rely predominantly on U.S.-made weapons and
defense systems, which could be a part of the investment.
There was no immediate readout from the White House on the call. It also
wasn’t immediately clear if Trump’s call with the crown prince was his
first with a foreign leader since re-entering the White House. However,
it was the first reported abroad.
The crown prince, the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom, also spoke
with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio early Thursday.
[to top of second column]
|
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Deputy Crown Prince
and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman during a bilateral meeting,
in Riyadh, May 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
On Monday after his inauguration, Trump talked about possibly
heading to the kingdom again as his first foreign trip, like he did
in 2017.
“The first foreign trip typically has been with the U.K. but ... I
did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450
billion worth of our products,” Trump told journalists in the Oval
Office. “If Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another $450 billion or $500
— we’ll up it for all the inflation — I think I’d probably go.”
The 2017 visit to the kingdom set in motion a yearslong boycott of
Qatar by four Arab nations, including the kingdom.
Trump maintained close relations with Saudi Arabia, even after
Prince Mohammed was implicated in the 2018 killing and dismemberment
of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. The
kingdom also had been talking for years with the Biden
administration about a wider deal to diplomatically recognize Israel
in exchange for U.S. defense protections and other support.
The $600 billion pledge, which dwarves the gross domestic product of
many nations, also comes as the kingdom faces budgetary pressures of
its own. Global oil prices remain depressed years after the height
of the coronavirus pandemic, affecting the kingdom's revenues.
Meanwhile, Prince Mohammed also wants to continue his $500 billion
project at NEOM, a new city in Saudi Arabia's western desert on the
Red Sea. It also will need to build tens of billions of dollars'
worth of new stadiums and infrastructure ahead of it hosting the
2034 FIFA World Cup.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
