Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced on Tuesday that his country will commit to increasing investment in the United States by up to almost $1 trillion in areas such as technology and artificial intelligence (AI). "We will announce the increase of the $600 billion (already committed to the U.S.) to almost $1 trillion for investment, real investment, and real opportunity in many areas, including in technology, in AI," bin Salman said during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. At the start of the meeting, a smiling Trump had already thanked the Saudi Crown Prince for the multi-billion dollar investment announced during the president's visit to Riyadh last May. "As my friend, maybe I'll make it a trillion, but I have to convince him," he joked with a gesture towards the Arab leader. "I believe in the future of the United States," bin Salman said in turn, who was received at the White House on Tuesday with the highest honors reserved for state visits. Trump insisted on the closeness with Saudi Arabia and even defended the Crown Prince against the accusations of the CIA that point to him as responsible for the 2018 assassination of The Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. "You have to understand that this is a great ally, simply because they are doing this now. He didn't tell me in advance," the Republican stated. The visit of the Saudi Crown Prince to Washington, the first in over seven years, comes after Trump's trip to the capital of the Arab country in May, where Saudi investments in the United States worth $600 billion were announced. It is expected that in Tuesday's meeting, some of the already announced investments will be finalized, progress will be made in cooperation in civil nuclear energy, and possible arms sales will be closed. Bin Salman wants Washington to authorize the sale of F-35s, the world's most advanced stealth combat aircraft, manufactured exclusively by the United States, whose transfer Trump has already said he will support. In turn, Trump is seeking to pressure Bin Salman for his country to join the Abraham Accords, promoted during the Republican's first term to normalize relations between Israel and Arab countries, even though Saudi Arabia has made it clear that it will not do so without a credible and irreversible path to the creation of a Palestinian state.
