MBS tells Trump that Saudis will increase investments in US to nearly $1 trillion

Saudi crown prince Mohamed bin Salman He told President Trump on Tuesday that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will increase its investments from $600 billion in the United States to nearly $1 trillion.

The new figure was raised by the president during bin Salman’s visit to the White House.

“I want to thank you because you agreed to invest $600 billion in the United States, and since you’re my friend, it could go to a trillion, but I’ll have to work on it,” Trump said during their meeting in the Oval Office.

Bin Salman, who goes by the name MBS, agreed that the figure would be close to $1 trillion.

During Trump’s first administration, the president touted $450 billion in Saudi investments in the United States, but an economic analysis by the Arab Gulf States Institute found that U.S. exports of goods and services to Saudi Arabia from 2017 to 2020 totaled only one-fifth of that, about $92 billion.

A May 2017 defense deal with the kingdom worth about $110 billion was supposed to take effect immediately, the White House said at the time. But according to records maintained by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, the Defense Department formally notified Congress about about $23 billion in potential arms sales to Saudi Arabia between 2017 and 2020.

Bin Salman’s trip to the White House marks his first visit to the United States since Washington Post journalist and human rights activist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in 2018 at a Saudi consulate in Istanbul by members of the Saudi government. The president has softened relations with the Saudis since the CIA assessed about a month after Khashoggi’s murder that the crown prince had he ordered it. Bin Salman has denied any involvement, but told Norah O’Donnell of News themezone in a 60 Minutes interview in 2019 that he took responsibility for Khashoggi’s death, because his murder had been “committed by people working for the Saudi government.”

MBS was asked about Khashoggi in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “As for the journalist, it’s really painful to hear that someone loses their life for no real purpose,” he said.

President Trump also said during the Oval Office meeting that “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman.” [Khashoggi]”and added that “he [bin Salman] “I didn’t know anything about it and we can leave it at that.”

Trump praised the crown prince and said his human rights record is good, despite the State Department’s list of concerns about human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia.

“Today we have an extremely respected man in the Oval Office and a long-time friend of mine, a very good friend of mine,” Trump said. “I’m very proud of the work, what he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.”