Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's (MBS) November 2025 trip to Washington was designed to firmly anchor Saudi Arabia within the U.S. global system and extract cutting-edge American technology for the Kingdom's future.
High-level political and business meetings produced a flood of announcements across defence, investment, AI, semiconductors and critical minerals.
The volume of news was deliberate with deal figures palpably inflated, but the messaging was unmistakable: the Saudi–U.S. relationship is not tied to the region's most volatile files like Israel-Palestine, the Levant, or Iran, but is developing its own strategic logic.
Rather than signalling a short-term symbolic lull toward MBS in the U.S. thanks to Trump's presidency, the visit underscored a durable partnership in which America's tech elite, industrial executives and finance heavyweights all want to partake in.
Despite concerns about the solidity of U.S. commitments, Riyadh continues to firmly believe that securing its long-term safety and technological edge requires deeper integration into the U.S.-led systems instead of playing an overcautious hedging game with limited returns.
Washington, meanwhile, sees a clearer role for Saudi Arabia at a moment when the Middle East's centre of gravity has shifted, Europe is an afterthought, and great-power competition has reordered its priorities.
A visit built for the long haul
MBS pursued what America has best to offer - notably in the hot market of AI.
The messaging was tactically calibrated to entice "America First" preferences by presenting Saudi Arabia as a partner that strengthens U.S. interests rather than drains them. It is a formula other allies - from Europe to Israel - have also been forced to embrace in the Trump era.
However, MBS' diplomatic vision goes far beyond 2028 and has notably not adopted the politically divisive MAGA rhetoric that other Trump-aligned world leaders have displayed.
In fact, the Kingdom wants a structure that can survive future shifts in Washington, place its emerging industries inside American technological ecosystems and validate its economic transformation at a moment when megaprojects are being scaled down and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) faces tighter constraints.
By reinforcing its position as an indispensable U.S. ally and polishing its image to prevent any future partisan enmity, Riyadh is securing its future.
A strategic logic based on embedding, not balancing
The Saudi reading of this decade is straightforward: the global system is entering a period of technological consolidation and only states directly plugged into the U.S. innovation base will shape the future of AI, advanced manufacturing and defence systems.
Saudi Arabia wants to be the place where these technologies are scaled, demonstrated and commercialised.
