King Salman, Crown Prince MBS congratulate Trump on election win

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and his son, de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, congratulated Donald Trump on his election victory on Wednesday, state media reported.

The two leaders sent cables to Trump, who cultivated warm Saudi ties during his first administration. King Salman hailed “close relations between the two friendly countries and peoples, which everyone seeks to strengthen and develop in all fields”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

Later on Wednesday, SPA reported that Prince Mohammed called to congratulate Trump on his win and “expressed the kingdom’s aspiration to strengthen the historical and strategic relations between the two countries, wishing the friendly American people progress and prosperity under His Excellency’s leadership”.

After taking office in 2017, Trump quickly courted Saudi Arabia, long an important energy and security partner for Washington.

His first overseas visit was to the Saudi capital Riyadh, where he basked in an elaborate welcome involving a sword dance and a fly-past of air force jets.

The honeymoon period later cooled, with Prince Mohammed faulting Trump for failing to respond more aggressively after a 2019 attack widely blamed on Iran halved the Gulf kingdom’s crude output.

US President Joe Biden criticised Saudi Arabia harshly while on the campaign trail for human rights abuses including the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

But the relationship with Biden dramatically improved, and the two sides attempted to negotiate a so-called mega-deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel in exchange for a defence pact with the United States and help on a civilian nuclear programme.

That deal was put on ice after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 last year, triggering war in the Gaza Strip.

Last week, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan told an investor forum in Riyadh that his government could potentially move “quite quickly” on some bilateral agreements with Washington even if the mega-deal remained out of reach.