Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) congratulated Donald Trump on his return to the White House, saying in a call on Thursday that the kingdom would massively expand its investments and trade with the United States.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler passed on congratulations from his father, King Salman, during the call with Trump, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
The crown prince added that the kingdom would "expand its investment and trade with the United States to $600 billion over four years, and potentially beyond that."
In his own call with the crown prince on Thursday, new U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and "the threats posed by Iran and its proxies," according to a statement.
"They also discussed the benefits of the U.S.-Saudi economic partnership and the opportunities to grow their economies in a variety of fields, including AI," a spokesperson for Rubio said.
During his first administration, Trump actively courted Saudi Arabia, long an important energy and security partner for Washington.
His first overseas visit in 2017 was to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, where he basked in an elaborate welcome involving a sword dance and a fly-past of Air Force jets.
Relations later cooled, with MBS faulting Trump for failing to respond more aggressively after a 2019 attack widely blamed on Iran halved the Gulf kingdom's crude output.
Riyadh and Trump's team nevertheless sought to boost ties after his departure from the White House, in particular via investments and construction deals for his privately owned conglomerate, the Trump Organization.
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, has also defended receiving a Saudi investment in his private equity firm that reports put at $2 billion.
While on the campaign trail, Joe Biden criticized Saudi Arabia harshly for several issues, including the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
But the relationship with then-President Biden's administration dramatically improved, and the two sides attempted to negotiate a so-called mega-deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognize Israel in exchange for a defense pact with the U.S. and help on a civilian nuclear program.
That deal was put on ice after the war began in Gaza in October 2023.
