President Trump surprised attendees at the White House dinner with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by announcing that the U.S. is formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally.
Mr. Trump said the U.S. is “taking our military cooperation to even greater heights” with this action and that this move is “very important” to the Middle Eastern country.
The designation came not long after Mr. Trump and the crown prince signed the U.S.-Saudi Strategic Defense Agreement (SDA), a historic agreement that strengthens the more than 80-year defense partnership between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
The White House says the SDA will make it easier for U.S. defense firms to operate in Saudi Arabia, securing new burden-sharing funds from the Saudi Arabia to defray U.S. costs, and affirming that the Kingdom views the United States as its primary strategic partner.
Mr. Trump secured agreements reinforcing America’s role as a regional security enabler.
He also approved a major defense sale package, including future F-35 deliveries, which strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base and ensures Saudi Arabia continues to buy American.
Additionally, the president secured an agreement for Saudi Arabia to purchase nearly 300 American tanks, safeguarding hundreds more American jobs.
In May, the White House announced that Saudi Arabia bought nearly $142 billion worth of American military equipment and services.
“As I’ve said many times, and we’ve demonstrated just a short while ago, but quite a bit, we make the best military equipment in the world. By far we make the best jets, the best missiles, we make the best military equipment in the world,” Mr. Trump said.
“There’s nothing even close. But this will make both of our nations safer and cement the Kingdom’s role as a key force for stability and security in the Middle East.”
He boasted about the rule the U.S. had played in attacking the nuclear program of Iran, a key Saudi regional rival.
“With what we did with our beautiful B-2 bombers going in and obliterating a very serious nuclear threat … Saudi Arabia has never been as safe as it is right now,” he said. “You always had a little cloud over your head, and sometimes that cloud was very big. That cloud is not there any more, and we want to keep it that way.”
Mr. Trump also praised the Saudis for increasing their promised investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion.
The crown prince, earlier in the day while seated in the Oval Office, informed the president of the increased investments, which was initially $600 billion.
“When you invest $1 trillion, that’s national security for us too because it creates jobs, it creates a lot of things,” Mr. Trump said. “That’s a real ally that will do that. Creates a lot of power for the United States.”
In return, Mr. Trump signaled that he was considering a key part of the crown prince’s wish list: access to advanced U.S. semiconductors that would power Saudi Arabia’s ambition in artificial intelligence.
The crown prince thanked the president for the warm welcome and highlighted the more than 80-year U.S.–Saudi partnership, rooted in the historic meeting between President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz bin Saud, the crown prince’s grandfather and the founder of modern Saudi Arabia.
He noted both nations’ upcoming milestone anniversaries and emphasized decades of cooperation — from World War II to countering Islamist extremism — alongside growing economic ties.
He described today as a special moment with major new agreements that expand the scope of economic cooperation, stressing the need to focus on implementation and seizing new opportunities.
Mr. Trump and the crown prince were also joined by first lady Melania Trump; Vice President J.D. Vance and second lady Usha Vance; Princess Reema, the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.; technology entrepreneur Elon Musk; House Speaker Mike Johnson and wife Kelly; Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who currently plays in Saudi Arabia; hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and wife Neri Oxman; Saudi power-company chief Mohammad Abunayyan; Apple CEO Tim Cook; real-estate developer Ross Perot Jr. and wife Sarah Perot; and others.
