Strategic vision for Saudi-US bilateral ties
The mainstream media have used grand superlatives such as “extravagant,” “monumental,” and most frequently “historic” to describe US President Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia.
Most of these words refer to the lavish welcome that Trump received from the Saudi leadership, or the fact that Saudi Arabia is the first country to be visited by the president during his maiden foreign trip. However, there are far more nuanced reasons why this visit has all the potential to change the course of US-Saudi bilateral relations, as well as history itself.
President Trump recently signed a “strategic vision” with King Salman, which includes business deals and investments that are worth $380 billion.
Nearly $110 billion of those deals are arms sales, reaffirming the US administration’s strong relationship with its time-tested and trusted ally.
President Trump’s agreement with King Salman comes in the wake of 18 high-level US-Saudi trade agreement deals that have been signed since January.
Reem Daffa
The significance of this vision stems from the now-obvious fact that the US is Saudi Arabia’s primary partner in helping the Kingdom achieve its transformative Vision 2030.
President Trump’s agreement with King Salman comes in the wake of 18 high-level US-Saudi trade agreement deals that have been signed since January.
With this agreement, and the current strength of the US-Saudi bilateral relationship, the two countries can look forward to even more trade agreements within the year.
• The writer is an economic researcher at the Washington-based Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee (SAPRAC)
