Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler kicks off a diplomatic offensive in Washington this week, seeking to cement a deepening alliance with a raft of proposed deals.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is pursuing a defense guarantee, a nuclear agreement, and greater access to cutting-edge chips to fuel the kingdom’s economic diversification and AI ambitions. Once a pariah over the murder of a Saudi journalist, MBS now enjoys strong relations with the US, won over by Saudi’s social transformation, economic potential, and stores of energy needed to power data centers.
But despite closer ties, MBS must still ensure that “all the goodwill he has built up in the Trump era continues into future administrations,” Semafor’s Saudi bureau chief noted.
