--- title: What to Expect as Saudi Arabia's MBS Meets Trump description: The Saudi Crown Prince's visit cements his restored clout in Washington after being kept at arm's length for years, writes Lina Khatib. canonical: https://time.com/7334464/trump-us-saudi-crown-prince-mbs/ author: Lina Khatib article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-11-18T12:57:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:34:25.222Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Trump-MBS Meeting Shows Saudi Arabia's Restored Clout og:description: The Saudi crown prince arrives in Washington with fighter jets and business deals on the agenda, writes Lina Khatib. og:url: https://time.com/7334464/trump-us-saudi-crown-prince-mbs/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7547fe97abac1363/6998cbc0f1b08241806f1dfb/GettyImages-2214260170.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump Makes First Middle East Trip Of His Second Term og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Trump-MBS Meeting Shows Saudi Arabia's Restored Clout twitter:description: The Saudi crown prince arrives in Washington with fighter jets and business deals on the agenda, writes Lina Khatib. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7547fe97abac1363/6998cbc0f1b08241806f1dfb/GettyImages-2214260170.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  IDEASTime ideas # The Trump-MBS Meeting Shows Saudi Arabia Is Too Powerful to Ignore by [Lina Khatib](/author/lina-khatib/) ## Lina Khatib Contributor Khatib is an associate fellow at Chatham House’s MENA program, a visiting scholar at Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative, and principal analyst at ExTrac. Nov 18, 2025 12:57 PM CUT  U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a “coffee ceremony” at the Saudi Royal Court on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh. U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a “coffee ceremony” at the Saudi Royal Court on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh.Win McNamee—Getty Images by [Lina Khatib](/author/lina-khatib/) ## Lina Khatib Contributor Khatib is an associate fellow at Chatham House’s MENA program, a visiting scholar at Harvard Kennedy School's Middle East Initiative, and principal analyst at ExTrac. Nov 18, 2025 12:57 PM CUT Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS) [arrivesin Washington, D.C. on Tuesday](https://time.com/7334666/trump-mbs-saudi-crown-prince-f-35-fighter-jets-white-house-visit/ "undefined"), more than seven years since his last official trip to the U.S., for a [meeting](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-18/trump-to-host-saudi-s-mbs-with-eye-toward-defense-tech-deals "undefined") with President Donald Trump at the Oval Office. The visit caps a U-turn in how Washington treats the kingdom’s de facto leader and prioritizes the wider U.S.-Saudi relationship. The shift has been years in the making. Former President Joe Biden took office in 2021 vowing to turn Saudi Arabia into a “[pariah](https://www.politico.com/video/2023/11/17/2019-biden-calls-saudi-arabia-pariah-in-democratic-debate-1141767 "undefined")” following the [killing](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/us/politics/jamal-khashoggi-killing-cia-report.html "undefined") of _Washington Post_ journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018\. But, recognizing Saudi Arabia’s importance for U.S. interests, the Biden Administration began to soften its stance. Biden [flew](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-62173934 "undefined") to the kingdom in 2022 and struck the [Jeddah Communique](https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/07/15/the-jeddah-communique-a-joint-statement-between-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia/ "undefined"). Trump’s return to the White House in January and new regional dynamics are accelerating the return of warmer ties with Riyadh. Those ties go beyond mere transactionalism and are likely to endure. Trump’s foreign policy toward the Middle East in his second term has more firmly moved away from uncomfortable co-existence with an Iran-dominated region. The unfolding events since the [Oct. 7 attacks](https://time.com/6321849/israel-attack/ "undefined")—which underlined Tehran as a [key source of arms for Hamas](https://theconversation.com/where-do-israel-and-hamas-get-their-weapons-220762 "undefined"), in addition to [Lebanon’s Hezbollah](https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/24/middleeast/hezbollah-weapons-visuals-intl-dg "undefined"), [Yemen’s Houthis](https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/irans-support-houthis-what-know "undefined"), and other militant groups—proved that Saudi Arabia was right in flagging the threat to regional stability posed by the Islamic Republic. Trump has in turn taken a more hawkish approach to the Middle East, including when the U.S. [bombed three nuclear sites](https://time.com/7296469/u-s-strikes-iran-nuclear-trump-war/ "undefined") in Iran. But he also recognizes the importance of partnering with a strong regional leader like Saudi Arabia to bolster stability in a rapidly changing Middle East. **Read More:** [_Iran's Self-Inflicted Isolation_](https://time.com/7295480/iran-isolation-middle-east-strategy-failure/ "undefined") Trump, ever the dealmaker, sees Saudi Arabia as a [major economic opportunity](https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/05/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-secures-historic-600-billion-investment-commitment-in-saudi-arabia/#:~:text=Today%20in%20Saudi%20Arabia%2C%20President,endure%20for%20generations%20to%20come. "undefined"). His meeting with MBS will allow him to deepen the momentum from his first visit to Riyadh in May where he struck [lucrative](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn5yxp2v77ro "undefined") business deals with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. For its part, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 to diversify its economy away from oil needs U.S. expertise in innovation, technology transfer, and investment. AI is an emerging shared interest, and a [Saudi-U.S. investment forum](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-saudi-event-include-ceos-chevron-qualcomm-pfizer-source-says-2025-11-17/ "undefined") will be held in Washington on Wednesday. The more that businesses in both countries grow together, the more difficult it will be for any future U.S. President to reverse course on Saudi Arabia. The U.S. also looks to Saudi Arabia as its main defense partner in the Arab world. Trump announced on Monday that the [U.S. will sell F-35s](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-17/why-selling-us-f-35-jets-to-saudi-arabia-is-so-contentious "undefined") to the kingdom. Although the U.S. is unlikely to grant Saudi Arabia the exceptional status Washington has given Israel regarding the [ability to customize American fighter jets](https://www.wired.com/2016/05/israel-can-customize-americas-f-35-least-now/ "undefined"), a durable U.S.-Saudi defense agreement to guarantee the kingdom’s security is likely. Such an agreement would be stronger than Trump’s [executive order to defend Qatar](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c203yldq44wo "undefined"), as executive orders can be revoked by future presidents. It is notable that neither Riyadh nor Washington has placed political preconditions on their economic and security engagement. The issue of Saudi Arabia’s normalization with Israel remains unresolved as Riyadh insists that it can only happen [if there is a pathway to a Palestinian state](https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog%5Fentry/pa-official-saudi-arabia-promised-it-wont-normalize-ties-with-israel-before-establishment-of-palestinian-state/ "undefined"). Saudi Arabia knows it has a lot of leverage and will not budge unless there is a significant Israeli concession. Israel’s [attack on Qatar](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/10/qatar-was-the-turning-point-how-israels-bombing-of-doha-ignited-a-peace-process-00604017 "undefined") in September has also deepened concerns in Riyadh that Israel is another source of regional instability. Saudi Arabia and the U.S. tacitly acknowledge that it is not in their interest to let any of this get in the way of their strengthening relationship. To be sure, an economic transformation in Saudi Arabia will have a domino effect across the region, bringing in more opportunities for employment, reconstruction, investment, and skills development. All those are [urgently needed in Gaza](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/09/two-years-of-displacement-and-destruction-in-gaza-photo-essay "undefined"), [Syria](https://carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/diwan/2025/10/syria-needs-a-reconstruction-plan?lang=en "undefined"), and [Lebanon](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/26/israeli-airstrikes-on-lebanon-a-visual-guide "undefined")—economic development is a main factor in stabilization in post-conflict societies. But the viability of Saudi Arabia’s own economic prosperity requiresthe region around it to be stable. Economic incentives growing out of the partnership with the U.S. can therefore be a catalyst for working more closely toward long-term stability in the Middle East. In this way, while politics may not be the main headline in MBS’s visit to Washington, it remains the underlying factor in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. With the regional order no longer dominated by Iran, Washington surely recognizes that its best bet for stability in the Middle East is to cultivate deep ties with Riyadh. The expected economic and defense deals to come out of the visit will help to continue paving the way for a major political reset in the Middle East. [TIME Ideas](https://www.time.com/ideas) hosts the world's leading voices, providing commentary on events in news, society, and culture. We welcome outside contributions. 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