This is not an official state visit, but the White House is preparing to welcome Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman next week with all the pomp and circumstance typical of an official visit.
The crown prince’s day at the White House next Tuesday will begin with an arrival ceremony in the sprawling South Garden and a subsequent greeting in the South Portico, according to a senior White House official.
Trump will then welcome him to the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting, followed by agreement signings and lunch in the Cabinet Room, where the U.S. and Saudi Arabia will formalize several economic and defense agreements, said the official, who requested anonymity when discussing the administration’s plans.
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His visit is classified as “official work” because Prince Mohammed is not technically a head of state, the official said.
On Wednesday, dozens of CEOs are expected to attend a U.S.-Saudi Business Council meeting at the Kennedy Center.
Although the US president’s presence has not yet been confirmed for the business meeting, he is likely to attend, the senior White House official said.
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Trump’s relationship with the Gulf countries has been one of the president’s top foreign policy priorities in his second term. His first major trip abroad was a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
This is the crown prince’s first trip to the US since the murder of the newspaper columnist Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, during Trump’s first term.
American intelligence agencies said Prince Mohammed likely ordered the killing, which resulted in sanctions against several Saudi officials. He denies involvement, and both the Trump and Biden administrations have sought to repair relations with Saudi Arabia since then.
*Source: Associated Press
Content translated with the help of Artificial Intelligence, reviewed and edited by Broadcast, Grupo Estado’s real-time news system
