Trump designates Saudi Arabia a 'major non-NATO ally' during White House dinner with MBS
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump signed a new strategic defense agreement officially naming Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally.
Trump made the announcement on Tuesday night, November 18, with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seated front and center during a high-profile dinner at the White House.
Trump designates Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally
“Tonight, I’m pleased to announce that we are taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally,” he declared. “And I'm just telling you now for the first time, because they wanted to keep a little secret for tonight."
It’s worth noting that only 19 nations previously held the designation, including Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand, and Tunisia. Saudi Arabia has now become the 20th MNNA nation.
The announcement capped off a marathon day for US–Saudi relations. Earlier, Trump and the crown prince revealed that Saudi Arabia plans to pump $1 trillion into the US economy.
Meanwhile, administration officials said an agreement to export semiconductor chips to Saudi Arabia could be finalized this week, a major step after months of negotiations over access to advanced technology. Trump even floated the possibility of a future civil nuclear cooperation deal.
Trump's star-studded White House dinner with MBS and global CEOs
The event wasn’t an average policy dinner. MBS was joined by a roster of executives and global celebrities. Among those attending were billionaire Elon Musk, soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, Apple CEO Tim Cook, and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino.
Also seated at the long candlelit tables were Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and billionaire investor Bill Ackman. Before dinner, Trump rolled out the royal treatment in the Oval Office. He called MBS a “very good friend of mine” and again cleared him of blame for the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
US and Saudi Arabia advance defense, nuclear, and AI deals
The US and Saudi Arabia are now locked in a sweeping defense cooperation pact. Buried in the broad language is the potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, something Riyadh has sought for years. Washington also committed to formalizing talks on helping the kingdom build a civil nuclear program.
For MBS, the night marked a major comeback with Western allies after he was briefly frozen out by former President Joe Biden over the Khashoggi killing. Meanwhile, Saudi–Israeli normalization remains a diplomatic challenge as Israel’s two-year war with Hamas in Gaza continues.
The tech sector also received a significant boost. Trump said the US and Saudi Arabia have reached a deal on artificial intelligence after tough negotiations over advanced chips. While the White House did not formally announce it on Tuesday, insiders say Washington has agreed to approve deliveries of the technology to the Saudi firm Humain,
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