Saudi Arabia pledges $1tr in US investment, up from $600b

Trump welcomes MBS to White House as Saudi crown prince seeks to strengthen ties

US President Donald Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House on Tuesday, with the Saudi de facto ruler seeking to further cooperation with Washington.

Making his first White House visit in more than seven years, the crown prince was greeted with a lavish display of pomp and ceremony presided over by Trump on the South Lawn, complete with a military honor guard, a cannon salute and a flyover by US warplanes.

Salman promised on Tuesday to increase his country's US investment to $1 trillion from a $600 billion pledge he made when Trump visited Saudi Arabia in May. But he offered no details or timetable.

Talks between the two leaders looked set to advance security ties, civil nuclear cooperation and multibillion-dollar business deals with the kingdom. Trump told reporters that the two countries had reached a "defense agreement," without providing details, and that Saudi Arabia would buy advanced US-made F-35 fighter jets.

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Trump said he got a "positive response" about the prospects for Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel. But the crown prince made clear that while he wanted to join the Abraham Accords, he was sticking to his condition that Israel must provide a path to Palestinian statehood, which it has refused to do.

The meeting underscores a key relationship -- between the world’s biggest economy and the top oil exporter -- that Trump has made a high priority in his second term as the international uproar around the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-critic, has gradually faded.

Trump greeted bin Salman with a smile and a handshake on the red carpet, while dozens of military personnel lined the perimeter. The limousine was escorted up the South Drive by a US Army mounted honor guard. The two leaders then looked skyward as fighter jets roared overhead.

Before sitting down for talks, the two leaders chatted amiably as Trump gave bin Salman a tour of presidential portraits lining the wall outside the Oval Office. Bin Salman was due to have lunch with Trump in the Cabinet Room and attend a formal black-tie dinner in the evening, giving him many of the trappings of a state visit. US and Saudi flags festooned lamp posts in front of the White House.