Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signs a defense agreement alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (not pictured) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sep. 17, 2025. (Credit: Saudi Press Agency/Reuters)
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is expected in Washington on Monday for the first time in seven years. According to experts, he will be seeking security guarantees, while U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to press him to normalize his country’s relations with Israel.
A few weeks after Israeli strikes on Qatar, a U.S. ally, the crown prince’s threefold objective will be to “strengthen, consolidate, and facilitate security and defense cooperation,” said Aziz Alghashian, an expert at the Arab Gulf States Institute. This will be the de facto ruler of the kingdom’s first visit to the White House since the 2018 assassination of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, an event that sparked international outrage and cooled relations between the two countries.
The prince maintains close ties with Donald Trump, who received him lavishly in May, accompanied by promises of $600 billion in investments during the U.S. president’s visit to the oil-rich monarchy. His trip will last three days, starting Monday, with a meeting scheduled with Trump on Tuesday, according to a source close to the government.
An American-Saudi investment forum focused on energy and artificial intelligence will take place in Washington during the visit, according to the event website.
‘Precondition’
Trump has recently reiterated his wish for Saudi Arabia, a key Middle Eastern power, to recognize Israel by joining the Abraham Accords, a major diplomatic goal that now seems unlikely after the Gaza war.
Before the conflict erupted, the two countries had begun talks on potential normalization in exchange for security and energy guarantees. But the talks have since been suspended, with Riyadh launching a diplomatic push in favor of a Palestinian state, a condition it has set for any normalization.
“A Palestinian state is a precondition for regional integration … We have said this repeatedly, and I do not think we have been fully understood, as the question continues to be raised,” said Manal Radwan, an official at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a conference in early November in Bahrain.
After Israeli strikes, Doha obtained an executive decree signed by Trump, committing to defend the country in case of another attack, an assurance other Gulf states would like to receive, experts say.
In addition to advanced air and missile defense systems, Riyadh seeks to acquire F-35 fighter jets, which currently only Israel operates in the Middle East. The kingdom also wants access to advanced U.S. microchips, necessary to support its ambitions in artificial intelligence.
‘Good offices’
As Saudi Arabia launches ambitious tourism and entertainment projects to diversify an economy still largely dependent on oil, it is also seeking to ease regional tensions, including with its former rival, Iran.
Manal Radwan stated that her country would continue offering its “good offices” on the Iran file, adding that “direct negotiations” between Tehran and Washington were “essential” to resolve the nuclear issue. “The question is whether the crown prince can formalize a durable framework between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that would credibly deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and support Vision 2030,” the kingdom’s ambitious diversification plan, said Andreas Krieg of King’s College London.
“In return, Washington will demand stricter safeguards on sensitive ties with China, concrete progress on Israel-related issues, and a credible political perspective for the Palestinians,” he told AFP.
Trump and Mohammed bin Salman had displayed their closeness during the U.S. president’s first foreign tour. Their cooperation has borne fruit, notably on Syria: Trump claims it was the Saudi prince who convinced him to lift sanctions on Damascus after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December and to receive in Riyadh the new Syrian leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, a former jihadist turned head of state.
Six months later, the U.S. president hosted al-Sharaa at the White House.
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