Saudi crown prince visits US to discuss defense, AI, nuclear issues – Energy news, top headlines, commentary, features, events

The crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

More than seven years later, the world’s largest economy and the world’s top oil producer are looking to move forward.

President Trump is looking to cash in on the $600 billion in Saudi investments he promised during his May visit to Saudi Arabia. He avoided mentioning human rights issues during that trip and is expected to do so again.

Saudi Arabia’s leaders want security guarantees amid regional turmoil and hope for access to artificial intelligence technology and progress toward an agreement on a civilian nuclear program.

Aziz Arghassian, a lecturer in international relations at the Saudi-based Naif Arab University of Security Sciences, said “a page has been turned” on Khashoggi’s killing.

Focus on defense deals

The United States and Saudi Arabia have long had an arrangement in which Saudi Arabia sells oil at a favorable price and the superpower provides security in return.

This equation was shaken by U.S. inaction when Iran attacked Saudi oil facilities in 2019. Concerns resurfaced in September when Israel attacked Doha, Qatar, targeting members of the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In the aftermath, President Trump signed a defense agreement with Qatar through an executive order. Many analysts, diplomats and local officials believe Saudi Arabia will get something similar.

Saudi Arabia is seeking a defense deal ratified by the US Congress in recent negotiations. But Washington has made it conditional on Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel.

Riyadh, in turn, links it to the Israeli government’s commitment to establishing a Palestinian state, the most right-wing in history. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who last month agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip brokered by President Trump after two years of war, reiterated on Sunday his firm opposition to Palestinian independence.

The Trump executive order on defense, similar to the deal with Qatar, falls short of the defense deal sought by Saudi Arabia. But Arghasian said this is “part of the process, not the end of the process.” A Western diplomat based in the Gulf summed up the dynamics this way: “President Trump wants normalization, Saudi Arabia wants a full defense deal, but the situation doesn’t allow for that. In the end, both sides are more likely to get less than they would like. That’s diplomacy.”

Dennis Ross, a former Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he expected an executive order requiring the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to “immediately discuss how to address the threat,” but said it would not require the U.S. to actively defend Riyadh.

“That could range from providing various types of support, exchanging weapons, deploying defensive missile squadrons like THAAD and Patriot, deploying naval forces with Marines, and actively participating in combat, not only defensively but also offensively,” he said.

Trade is key amid regional conflicts

Riyadh is also pressing for deals on nuclear energy and artificial intelligence under its ambitious Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy and strengthen its position against regional rivals.

Securing approval to acquire advanced computer chips is critical to Saudi Arabia’s plans to become a central node for global AI and compete with the United Arab Emirates, which in June signed a multibillion-dollar U.S. data center deal giving it access to high-end chips.

MBS also wants to reach an agreement with the United States on Saudi Arabia’s civilian nuclear program as part of the kingdom’s efforts to diversify away from oil.

Such an agreement would free up access to U.S. nuclear technology and security and help Saudi Arabia come into line with the UAE and traditional adversary Iran, which have their own plans.

But progress on the U.S. deal was difficult because Saudi Arabia did not want to agree to U.S. provisions that excluded uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, both potential routes into bombs.

Ross said he expected an announcement on a deal on nuclear energy, or at least a statement on progress toward one.

(Reporting by Timur Azhari in Riyadh; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)