Sitting alongside the US president, the gold trim of his robes matching the molding of Donald Trump’s Oval Office, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman radiated regal confidence.
Smiling easily, the kingdom’s 40-year-old de facto leader delighted Trump by announcing a nearly $1 trillion investment in the US economy. Trump patted the powerful Saudi prince’s shoulder repeatedly, and angrily defended the royal known as MBS in the face of hostile questions about his record from the Washington press corps.
Yet behind the elaborate trappings, the warm physical contact, and the smiles, it was an uneasy MBS who visited the White House on November 18. His grand economic plans, on which he is staking the future of the kingdom, are nowhere close to where he wants them to be. The kingdom finds itself on the back foot while Saudi Arabia’s rivals are driving events in the Middle East.
MBS came to Washington to try to reassert the oil-rich kingdom’s position in a region that’s been leaving it behind, and in that regard, the visit was a marked success, consolidating much of what was promised during Trump’s visit to Riyadh in May and cementing the crown prince as one of Trump’s top allies in the region.
Published originally on December 1, 2025.
Read the full article at the Times of Israel.
