Overview
- The White House staged an honorific arrival with a guard of honor and a fighter-jet flyover for Mohammed bin Salman before Oval Office talks and a gala dinner.
- Trump publicly defended the crown prince over the CIA’s Khashoggi assessment, saying he “didn’t know anything” and calling the slain columnist “extremely controversial.”
- The president voiced support for selling F-35s to Saudi Arabia, a step that faces congressional review and security concerns over Israel’s military edge and potential technology exposure.
- MBS said Saudi investment in the United States will rise toward nearly $1 trillion, with a Kennedy Center investment summit set to gather major U.S. corporate leaders.
- The crown prince signaled interest in joining the Abraham Accords but conditioned normalization with Israel on a clear pathway to a Palestinian state as rights groups pressed Washington on Saudi abuses.