WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump spoke to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday in his first call with a foreign leader of his second term, appearing to renew efforts from four years earlier to strengthen U.S. ties to the kingdom.
“The two leaders discussed efforts to bring stability to the Middle East, bolster regional security, and combat terrorism,” according to a White House readout released Thursday.
Trump and the crown prince also “discussed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s international economic ambitions over the next four years as well as trade and other opportunities to increase the mutual prosperity of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the readout said.
The Saudi government’s readout of the call said the kingdom intends “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.”
Speaking virtually at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, Trump called the crown prince “a fantastic guy” and said he’s going to ask Saudi Arabia to increase that investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion. Trump also said he’s going to ask Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to bring down oil prices.
“You got to bring it down, which, frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t do before the election,” he said. “That didn’t show a lot of love by them not doing it. I was a little surprised by that.”
During his first term as president, Trump’s first trip abroad was to Saudi Arabia. During those four years, the U.S. maintained a close relationship with the Middle Eastern country despite the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Throughout those four years, Trump prioritized Saudi Arabia in his foreign policy mission, vetoing efforts by Congress to halt arms sales to the country and to end U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia in its war in Yemen.
Trump also defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded that bin Salman himself ordered the murder of Khashoggi, a staunch critic of his government.
“Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said at the time. “That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
While signing executive orders in the Oval Office Monday, Trump told reporters that Saudi Arabia was his first foreign trip in his first term because he said they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of U.S. products.
Asked where he plans to go now, Trump said that if Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another $450 billion or $500 billion — or he said more because of inflation — he said, “I think I’d probably go there.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News Thursday morning she’s unaware of any current planning for Trump to visit Saudi Arabia.
Katherine Doyle and Tara Prindiville contributed.
