BLUF: Courting the Kingdom

Last week in the BLUF, we examined Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to the White House and the emerging, if uneasy, partnership the U.S. is cultivating to preserve regional stability and advance American interests. President Trump expanded on those efforts this week, hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (aka MBS) in Washington to discuss everything from AI and investment to soccer and security.

Their rapport was unmistakable. At the state dinner, the President pressed his “very good friend” MBS on several key priorities, chief among them persuading the Kingdom to rejoin the Abraham Accords. While the Crown Prince departed without signing on, he left with agreements in hand on AI cooperation, mutual security, and even the possible sale of F-35s, pending Congressional approval.

Beyond its central role in global energy markets, Saudi Arabia remains indispensable to building a stronger regional security architecture capable of countering Iran. But moving Riyadh closer to Washington, and encouraging it to normalize relations with Israel, requires a measure of reciprocal compromise. Just take a look at the Oval press availability and the discussion around the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. 

As the past month has shown, this administration appears willing to set aside its differences when doing so helps tilt the geopolitical balance in America’s favor. The Saudis do not share our values—and being skewed against the relationship on those grounds is certainly reasonable—but reinforcing this partnership is also vital to U.S. interests, to maintaining stability in a volatile region, and to blunt the influence of our adversaries. 

These are the difficult trade-offs America confronts every day across the globe. But the key takeaway is that we must keep engaging—because it may be the only path to helping them improve while securing America’s survival for the next 250 years.

If you are interesting in receiving our full newsletter every Thursday, subscribe here.