Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began his visit to the United States with a three-hour meeting with President Donald Trump that addressed their shared concerns over several issues.
“The relationship, now, is probably as good as it's really ever been, and I think will probably only get better. Tremendous investments made in our country. And that means jobs for our workers, jobs for our people,” Trump said in a press briefing as he received bin Salman. Trump held up charts to show the depth of Saudi purchases of US military hardware.
“We are the oldest ally of America from the Middle East,” Crown Prince Mohammed said, “with more than 80 years of alliance and big interests – politically, economically, security. The foundation of the relation is really huge and deep.”
Trump hailed Saudi investments in US firms and products, saying: “I really am very happy about is that we talked about 400 billion dollars’ worth of investment, of which we’ve already invested and seen invested $200 billion to our companies.”
Crown Prince said that the kingdom’s aim is to find stable oil markets and sustain oil investments, regardless if prices are high or low. He lauded the oil reserve of the kingdom, a reserve sufficient for 84 years.
Crown Prince Meets US Congress officials
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman held extensive bilateral meetings in Washington with US Congress officials including the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, the 54th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.
Mohammed bin Salman also met House of Representatives Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Deputy Leader, heads of the foreign relations and home security committees at the Senate, the heads of the foreign affairs, home security and intelligence committees at the House of Representatives and senior Democratic officials of the foreign affairs committee at the Senate and Intelligence Committee at the House of Representatives.
The leaders of the Congress of the two parties affirmed support of the historical relations between Saudi Arabia and the US. Meetings covered the latest developments in the region, including cooperation efforts in combatting terrorism and addressing Iran-backed Houthi militias which threaten regional stability.
The meetings also dealt with cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the economic and developmental areas in accordance with Saudi Vision 2030.
