Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s return to Washington, D.C. this week marks a pivotal moment in U.S.-Saudi relations, one that’s been years in the making and is fraught with both promise and controversy. The visit, which began on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, is the prince’s first trip to the U.S. capital since March 2018—a period shadowed by the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the subsequent chilling of ties between Riyadh and Washington. Now, against the backdrop of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and a shifting Middle East, both countries are eager to reset the relationship, but not without raising eyebrows at home and abroad.
The agenda for this high-profile visit is ambitious. According to The New York Times, bin Salman’s meetings with President Donald Trump are expected to cover everything from economic and security cooperation to the expansion of the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements between Israel and several Arab states. Trump has made no secret of his desire for Saudi Arabia to join the Accords, telling reporters aboard Air Force One just days before the meeting, “I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords fairly shortly.” Yet, the Saudis have remained steadfast: normalization with Israel will not happen without “irrevocable progress” toward Palestinian statehood, as reaffirmed by the Saudi Press Agency on November 6.
Trump’s approach to the Middle East has always been transactional, but this week’s flurry of activity is on another level. The president is expected to host an elaborate White House dinner in bin Salman’s honor and announce a suite of major new deals, including a U.S.-Saudi defense pact, advanced weapons transfers—most notably, a promise to sell F-35 fighter jets—and possible civilian-nuclear cooperation. As PBS News reported, Trump declared, “the Saudis have been a great ally,” just before the meeting, underscoring his administration’s willingness to deepen ties despite persistent criticism over human rights and security concerns.
But it’s not just government-to-government business on the table. The Trump Organization, the president’s family business, is negotiating a $63 billion redevelopment project in Diriyah, a historic Saudi town slated for transformation into a luxury destination. According to The New York Times, the Trump Organization plans to anchor the new neighborhood with a luxury hotel and plaza, while also working with Saudi-based investor DarGlobal on a $1 billion development linked to the Trump Tower Jeddah hotel. These deals, coming as Trump has publicly stated he would distance himself from his businesses during his presidency, have reignited debate over potential conflicts of interest. As Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, told Reuters last December, he has “no interaction with Washington, D.C.” and does not want it. Yet, watchdog groups remain skeptical. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington warned, “In each country where Trump has business interests, especially those where he has new properties under development, he will know that decisions he makes as president could impact his bottom line.”
For Saudi Arabia, bin Salman’s visit is about more than just business. It’s part of a broader campaign to rehabilitate the kingdom’s international standing after the Khashoggi affair. The prince’s Vision 2030 initiative—a sweeping plan to diversify the Saudi economy and modernize society—has seen notable reforms, such as lifting the ban on women driving in 2018. Trump, during his May 2025 visit to Riyadh, praised these changes as “a modern miracle the Arabian way,” according to Imad Harb of the Arab Center Washington. The U.S. sees Saudi Arabia as a key strategic partner in the region, vital for its capital, counterterrorism cooperation, and as a bulwark against Iran and China. Severing ties would, in Washington’s view, risk pushing Riyadh further into Beijing’s orbit and undermine efforts to integrate Israel regionally.
The timing of the visit is no coincidence. The October 2023 ceasefire in Gaza, reached after a devastating conflict that began with the Hamas massacre in Israel, has opened the door to renewed regional diplomacy. Trump has made clear he wants Saudi Arabia to play a major role in Gaza’s reconstruction and in ensuring long-term stability. The U.S. has already committed a significant civilian-military presence to oversee the process, and the hope is that Saudi financial and political clout can help keep the peace. Yet, as Politico and PBS News have noted, the path to normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel remains blocked by the Palestinian issue. Bin Salman’s message is unambiguous: no normalization without a credible path to Palestinian statehood.
While the headlines focus on the glitzy dinners and billion-dollar deals, the undercurrents are more complex. Some U.S. lawmakers, like Senator Adam Schiff, have sounded alarms about the intertwining of Trump’s personal business interests and national security. “And the Saudis want a mutual defense agreement and access to U.S. nuclear technology,” Schiff posted on X. “Looks like Trump and the royal family will both win, with our national security for sale. The only losers? The American people.” The Trump Organization’s international dealings have long been a lightning rod for criticism, with a 2024 House Oversight Committee report revealing the former president received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his previous term. These payments, according to Democrats on the committee, “reflect payments to just four of the more than 500 entities Trump owned while he was in office.”
Meanwhile, the U.S.-Saudi defense partnership is being watched closely by Israel. While deeper cooperation could serve as a counterweight to Iran, there are concerns that providing advanced weaponry to Saudi Arabia might erode Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge—a principle still enshrined in U.S. law but increasingly tested by shifting regional alliances and priorities.
Adding another layer of complexity, Trump recently lifted sanctions on Syria and removed a $10 million bounty from Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a move reportedly lobbied for by bin Salman. This step, capped by a White House meeting with the interim Syrian leader, signals Riyadh’s growing influence in shaping the Trump administration’s Middle East strategy.
As the world watches this week’s events in Washington, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The visit is not just about rehabilitating Saudi Arabia’s image or sealing lucrative deals—it’s about shaping the future of the Middle East. For Trump, bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords and solidifying the U.S.-Saudi partnership is central to his vision of being the “Peace President.” But as the region grapples with the aftermath of the Gaza war and the unresolved question of Palestinian statehood, the road ahead is anything but straightforward.
What’s clear is that this visit is a milestone—one that could redefine alliances, reshape economies, and determine the fate of peace efforts in the Middle East for years to come.
