Historic Meeting on the Horizon: Trump and Saudi Crown Prince to Reconnect
U.S. President Donald Trump is set to welcome Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House this week — the first formal sit-down between the two leaders since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The meeting has drawn plenty of attention, not least because of what is — and isn’t — expected to be said.
Trump has made clear he intends to roll out the red carpet. “We do more than meet,” he said recently, adding, “We honor Saudi Arabia and the crown prince.”
For Mohammed bin Salman, this is his first trip to Washington in over seven years. The agenda is broad: energy, security, trade, and technology all feature, according to Reuters. But the visit is also a statement — a signal that both leaders see value in being seen together on this kind of stage.
What almost certainly won’t come up is the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Middle East expert Cecilie Hellestveit was blunt about it. “Already in 2021, Biden indicated that Mohammed bin Salman would receive immunity regarding that case,” she said, pointing to the absence of any real accountability. American courts have declined to pursue the matter as well.
A 2018 CIA assessment concluded there was a probable indication that the crown prince had ordered the killing — something he has consistently denied. As Cecilie Hellestveit put it plainly, “Human rights will certainly not be a topic of conversation.”
The core purpose of the visit appears to be reinforcing ties on energy and security, while also pushing forward trade discussions. A substantial Saudi investment package — first floated during Mohammed bin Salman’s prior visit to the U.S. in May — is expected to come back to the table.
There’s also a Gaza dimension. Trump’s plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict leans, in part, on Saudi Arabia taking an active role. Some recent signals have suggested Riyadh might be inching toward normalising relations with Israel, but Cecilie Hellestveit isn’t convinced. “Saudi Arabia has firmly established its position: normalization cannot occur without a Palestinian state,” she said.
The visit includes gala dinners, with NFL star Tom Brady and other prominent U.S. figures expected to attend. Trump has noted that few leaders get repeated access to an American president — and for the crown prince, that access carries real weight as he works to cement his standing in the Arab world.
Whatever comes out of the meeting, it lands against a backdrop that neither side seems eager to fully acknowledge — a history that’s complicated, contested, and far from resolved.
