Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Donald Trump that Saudi Arabia wants to move forward with $600 billion into expanded investment and trade with the United States over the next four years, according to a report from the Saudi State news agency.
In a phone call between the two leaders, bin Salman said the Trump Administrations policies could create “unprecedented economic prosperity” for both nations, the state news agency reported. According to the report, Saudi Arabia is much more optimistic about strong U.S. ties under the Trump presidency after an often icy relationship with the Biden Administration.
While on the campaign trail in 2019, then-candidate Joe Biden claimed he would never shake hands with bin Salman and vowed to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” on the world stage due to numerous human rights violations. This never materialized, as Biden met with the Saudi leader in 2022 and gave him a fist-bump rather than a handshake.
The crown prince was not impressed with Biden, however, according to a 2022 report from the Wall Street Journal. The president’s declining mental state reportedly became a subject of mockery among bin Salman and his associates during their meeting in Jeddah, which took place