Saudi Arabia’s Red-Carpet Welcome

President Donald Trump is going all-in on Saudi Arabia, lavishly welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman yesterday in his first White House visit since the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The trip was big on pageantry, pomp and splashy announcements, and it portends a reshaped Middle East.

The pomp: An elaborate arrival ceremony on the South Lawn featured a military flyover, the Marine Band, and officers on horseback carrying U.S. and Saudi flags. Last evening, an opulent black-tie dinner included high-profile guests like business magnates Elon Musk, Jensen Huang and Tim Cook.

“We have an extremely respected man in the Oval Office today … very good friend of mine,” Trump said. “What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else. And he’s the crown prince, the future king.”

“Right now, you have the best friend you’ve ever had,” Trump told the crown prince.

The deals: Saudi Arabia was President Trump’s first state visit of his second term, signaling the weight he places on Riyadh as a pillar in his revolutionary Middle East strategy. Yesterday, the two leaders discussed several blockbuster agreements to strengthen economic and defense ties:

• Trump designated Saudi Arabia as a “major, non-nato ally,” elevating it to the same legal category as Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and others.
• The two leaders signed a Strategic Defense Agreement that unlocks enhanced military cooperation, arms access and economic incentives.
• The U.S. will sell advanced F-35 jets to Riyadh, potentially shifting the military balance in the region, along with 300 U.S.-made tanks.
• Trump said he may approve the sale of advanced U.S. chip technologies to the Saudis.
• Crown Prince Mohammed pledged nearly $1 trillion in Saudi investments in the U.S.—though delivering will be difficult, considering his overspending on several ambitious and over-budget infrastructure projects back home.
• Ground was laid for a long-term nuclear energy partnership with a joint declaration on civil nuclear energy cooperation. Saudi Arabia has been seeking access to U.S. nuclear technology to catch up with Iran, but to this point, Washington has ruled out paths to a Saudi bomb.
• The crown prince expressed interest in joining the Abraham Accords, which would normalize relations with Israel. But he made it contingent on securing a path to the creation of a Palestinian state, something Trump has spoken favorably of recently.

The bygones: Trump brushed aside questions about Khashoggi’s murder, dismissing it with, “Things happen,” and claiming Crown Prince Mohammed “knew nothing about it,” despite prior U.S. intelligence assessments to the contrary. He then chastised the abc reporter who asked about it, saying, “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that” and calling her outlet “fake news.”

The geopolitical picture of the Middle East in biblical prophecy shows an ascendant Saudi Arabia aligning with several other Arab states in opposition to a radical alliance led by Iran. It also shows a weakened Israel, alienated from America and desperate for other allies, and a U.S. whose influence is past. It is not difficult to see how Trump empowering the Saudis advances all these prophetic trends.