U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday kicked off his trip to the Gulf with an announcement that Saudi Arabia will invest US$600 billion in the United States.
According to the White House, the United States agreed to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly US$142 billion. The White House called it the largest "defense cooperation agreement" Washington has ever done.
A White House fact sheet said yesterday: “Today in Saudi Arabia, President Donald J. Trump announced Saudi Arabia’s $600-billion commitment to invest in the United States, building economic ties that will endure for generations to come. The first deals under the announcement strengthen our energy security, defense industry, technology leadership, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals.”
“Underscoring our commitment to strengthening our defense and security partnership, the United States and Saudi Arabia signed the largest defense sales agreement in history—nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen U.S. defense firms,” the White House said, noting that the deals are historic and transformative for both countries and represent a new golden era of partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
The United States and Saudi Arabia reportedly celebrate these and many other deals as a result of the growing momentum of the last four months. “The total package has quickly built to more than $600 billion–the largest set of commercial agreements on record between the two countries.”
Saudi Arabia is one of the United States’ largest trading partners in the Middle East.
The White House notes that Saudi direct investment in the United States totaled US$9.5 billion in 2023, focused on the transportation, real estate, and automotive sectors and in 2024, U.S.-Saudi Arabia goods trade totaled US$25.9 billion, with U.S. exports at US$13.2 billion, imports at US$12.7 billion, and a trade surplus in goods of US$443 million.
Reuters says Trump and the Saudi crown prince signed an agreement covering energy, defense, mining and other areas. Trump has sought to strengthen relations with the Saudis to improve regional ties with Israel and act as a bulwark against Iran.
The agreement reportedly covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defense companies for areas including air and missile defense, air force and space, maritime security and communications.
