U.S. and Saudi Arabia working to finalize defense pact before MBS meets Trump
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Trump meets MBS in Riyadh in May. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty
U.S. and Saudi officials have been holding intense negotiations to finalize a broad set of agreements, including a defense pact, ahead of next week's White House visit by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), U.S. officials tell Axios.
- Those meetings include a previously unreported visit by Jared Kushner to Riyadh over the weekend to meet MBS.
Why it matters: The planned Oval Office meeting with President Trump will be MBS' first visit to the U.S. since the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence assessed he approved.
- It will be the ultimate validation for the 40-year-old Crown Prince, who could soon become king and already sees himself as the leader of the Arab and Muslim world.
Behind the scenes: One of the agreements being discussed ahead of the visit would provide Saudi Arabia with a U.S. security guarantee.
- That pact would fall short of a legally binding defense treaty, which would be nearly impossible to pass through the Senate. Saudi national security adviser Musaad Al-Aiban visited the U.S. recently to discuss the possible agreement.
- Sources briefed on the issue said the model will be the same as the pledge Qatar received in September via executive order, meaning any future administration could revoke it.
- The Saudis also want to move forward with the purchase of a massive weapons package, including dozens of F-35 fighter jets.
- The Saudi embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
Driving the news: Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman (KBS), the crown prince's younger brother and close confidant, visited Washington on Monday and Tuesday to prepare for MBS' meeting with Trump.
- He met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House envoy Steve Witkoff. "We explored ways to bolster our strategic cooperation. We also addressed regional and international developments," KBS wrote on X.
- Saudi Arabia's economy and energy ministers also visited Washington in recent weeks to prepare for MBS' visit.
- Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, discussed the path forward on Gaza with MBS among other issues, sources familiar with the meeting say.
Between the lines: The U.S. and Saudi Arabia announced a big package of agreements during Trump's trip to Saudi Arabia last May, but most haven't been implemented.
- The Saudis were disappointed that many were "left on paper" without much follow-up, a source with knowledge said.
Zoom out: One issue U.S. and Saudi officials discussed in recent weeks was how to resume talks on possible normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia now that the Gaza war has ended, U.S. and Israeli officials say.
- Trump's advisers have been urging Netanyahu to look at the big picture of a potential peace deal with Saudi Arabia and to move forward on implementing the next phases of the Gaza peace deal.
- While Trump and his advisers acknowledge that the gaps between the Saudis and the Israelis are still wide and more work needs to be done to close them, the White House told the Saudis it wants to see some progress on this issue around the Trump-MBS meeting, two U.S. officials said.
- The main gap is Saudi Arabia's demand that, in return for normalization, Israel take concrete steps toward an irreversible, time-bound path to Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu still refuses to take any steps on that issue.
