Sign in
Making the rounds in the foreign press over the weekend: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called US president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to “express his joy” at Trump’s return to the White House, Bloomberg reports, citing persons familiar with the conversation. Trump had established strong ties with the Kingdom throughout his last term, with Saudi being the destination of his first overseas visit following his inauguration. The conversation saw bin Salman express Saudi’s “eagerness to strengthen the longstanding strategic and historic ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States,” according to state news agency SPA. The New York Times also took a look at what a second Trump term means for the GCC.
Meanwhile: A full two thirds of participants taking part in a virtual vote during the recently concluded Future Investment Initiative chose Trump when asked which candidate would be better for the global economy.
(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to our background and outside sources.)
ICYMI- Trump described the crown prince as a “friend” and a “visionary” during a pre-election interview with Al Arabiya last month. He also stressed that the extension of the Abraham Accords to include a normalization framework between Saudi Arabia and Israel was top on his post-election priorities for the region. Meanwhile, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm Affinity Partners has investment ties with PIF, while Trump Organization also has real estate ambitions in Saudi and the GCC.
