Trump greets Saudi crown prince at lavish reception on first visit since Khashoggi murder

Tuesday marked the first time that His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of saudi Arabia has set foot in the United States since 2018, after the death of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents in Istanbul, which sparked global outrage.

And President Donald Trump welcomed MBS with a lavish entrance, complete with Saudi flags alongside American flags, an orange carpet, black horses and a color guard band.

The cannons sounded in the background and a military flyover took place, with three F-35 and three F-16 planes, while Trump walked the carpet to await the arrival of the prince. entering

Trump and MBS shook hands and smiled for the cameras before entering their bilateral meeting.

The crown prince denied ordering the operation against Khashoggi, but ultimately acknowledged his responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

Now, more than seven years later, the Saudi leader has business on his mind as he seeks to deepen ties with the United States through oil and security cooperation, while expanding the regime’s global reach in finance, artificial intelligence and technology. In particular, Saudi Arabia has the largest economy in the world and maintains its leadership as the world’s largest oil producer.

Trump will host a dinner for the Saudi leader on Tuesday night with a who’s who of guests.

Billionaire Elon Musk was scheduled to attend, marking his first time back in the White House after leaving the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a source with knowledge of the plans told ABC News.

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi Pro League, will also be at the White House on Tuesday, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.

Before Tuesday’s meeting, the crown prince had apparently secured a highly coveted arms deal that includes advanced US F-35 fighter jets.

Trump confirmed Monday during an Oval Office event that he plans to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia as part of an arms deal, which experts say would mark the first time those planes have been sold to an Arab military.

A focus on defense and business.

The prince’s trip to the United States is billed as an “official working visit” and is designed to follow up and advance Trump’s May appearance in Riyadh, the first official visit of Trump’s second term.

“TO “A lot of the financial, economic and AI deals they announced were very ambiguous six months ago, I think this time we could start to see some of their results and hopefully get a little more clarity about what those deals actually are,” said Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the Secretary of Defense’s office at the Pentagon.

During that May visit, Trump announced a $142 billion arms package with the Saudis, which a White House fact sheet said was “the largest defense cooperation agreement” Washington has ever signed.

The deal covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defense companies in areas including air and missile defense, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, according to the fact sheet.

The kingdom, in turn, announced a $600 billion investment in the United States spanning multiple sectors, including energy security, defense, technology, global infrastructure and critical minerals.

Some of the other notable deals announced under the $600 billion commitment included investments in: US-based energy infrastructure and artificial intelligence data centers; advanced technologies; Saudi infrastructure projects; US energy equipment and commercial aircraft; the US healthcare supply chain; and American sports industries.

The possible sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the Saudi kingdom is likely to cause consternation in Israel.

US law requires that any arms sales package to Middle Eastern countries must not put Israel’s security at risk, and it is unclear whether Trump has cleared that hurdle by allowing the sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

“There are a whole host of issues that go into this. Part of it is that Israel has to be able to maintain its qualitative military advantage mandated by Congress, and Congress does determine that,” Dent said. “And so if the deal goes forward, I think we just have to see how they are going to find the best way to ensure that Israel can maintain it, as the only country in the Middle East that currently has F-35s.”

“I think Israelis are probably quite uncomfortable with these rumors circulating with no normalization in sight,” Dent added.

Saudis insist on ‘credible path’ to Palestinian state

Saudi leader seeks security guarantees from the United States amid turmoil in the Middle East. The security agreement with the United States is in a development stage and has not yet been formalized, but the kingdom seeks to deepen military and security ties between the two countries.

The security guarantees are seen by some as part of a broader regional “mega deal” involving normalization with Israel, something Trump is sure to push even as the Saudi kingdom has refused to do so under current Israeli leadership.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that he would discuss the issue with the crown prince.

“I hope Saudi Arabia will enter the Abraham Accords fairly soon,” he said.

Earlier this year, Trump signed an unprecedented defense pact with Qatar through an executive order that recognizes the “enduring alliance” between the United States and Qatar and provides Qatar with an explicit security guarantee in the event of an “external attack.”

Many analysts have said they believe the Saudis are seeking a similar defense pact with the United States.

“I think it will be something similar to Qatar, where it basically says that it will consider any type of threat or attack on Saudi Arabia as an attack on the United States, and then the United States will respond appropriately, which could range from political to military options. So, I think the administration will make sure that give yourself that decision space,” Dent said. “There’s a lot to work on here. Obviously, I think a lot of this is going to have to do with managing expectations.”

The kingdom is particularly committed to implementing the president’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza. The kingdom has previously stated that it wants to see the emergence of a credible path to an independent and free Palestine as a condition for supporting the demilitarization of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza.

But Israel has put an obstacle in the way of creating a Palestinian state, which will undoubtedly cause anguish among Arab regional partners pushing for sustained peace in Gaza.

“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during his weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday. “Gaza will be demilitarized and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way.”

Netanyahu has long opposed a Palestinian state, saying in recent months that its creation would only reward Hamas and endanger Israel’s security.

ABC News’ Christopher Boccia, Will Steakin and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.