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With Trump back in White House, Saudi Arabia looks to be major player

Saudi Arabia hopes a stronger bond with the US will solidify its influence in the Middle East despite the challenges posed by its controversial standing in the region

Ali Hussain / The Media Line|
Now that President Donald Trump is back in the White House, Saudi Arabia hopes to play a greater role in the Middle East. The Gulf nation's leaders aim to restore its glory after four years of tense relations with the administration of former President Joe Biden.
Soon after Trump took office, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud announced the kingdom’s intention to invest $600 billion in the U.S. over four years. That figure is higher than the $450 billion Saudi Arabia committed to investing in 2017.
Trump told the media he would pressure Saudi Arabia to raise the intended investment to $1 trillion. Saudi Arabia may take him up on that offer if it means obtaining a green light from the U.S. regarding its intended geopolitical strategy.
Analysts say Riyadh sees investing in the U.S. as a double opportunity, leading to both economic prosperity and unlimited support from the Trump administration.
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מוחמד בן סלמן מב"ס יורש העצר של סעודיה
מוחמד בן סלמן מב"ס יורש העצר של סעודיה
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
( Photo: Nathan Howard/Pool via AP)
“The deals that Saudi Arabia concludes with the United States are deals that benefit both countries,” according to Saudi political analyst Faisal Al-Kaam. “The previous deal, which was concluded in 2017, led to the transfer of technology to Saudi Arabia and the issuance of special models of the famous F-15 fighter jet, which means that Saudi Arabia also benefited.”
Al-Kaam rejected the notion that the investment was a form of tribute to be paid to the U.S. “This economic and political relationship is long-standing, and the two countries continue to support each other,” he said. “It is true that during President Joe Biden’s term, the relationship was a little tense, but it quickly returned to normal.”
“Saudi Arabia is the largest country in the Middle East regarding influence, size, and economy. It is now the fastest growing among the G20, and it is influential in all decisions in the region,” Al-Kaam continued, highlighting the mutual benefit resulting from a partnership between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
Al-Kaam described cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. as “a simple equation,” but some critics are more skeptical.
“The truth is that Saudi Arabia is paying bribes to the Donald Trump administration to keep them in power,” said Iraqi political analyst Haider Shaheen. “Otherwise, he will impose sanctions on them or at least marginalize them.”
Shaheen said that Saudi Arabia expects its investments to result in the U.S. suppressing those who oppose the kingdom, including the Houthis and the Iranian regime, “in addition to keeping quiet about Saudi Arabia’s serious violations in the areas of human rights.”

Saudi ties with Israel

After nearly a year and a half of war, a cease-fire was declared earlier this month between Israel and Hamas. That deal brought conversations about establishing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia back to the surface.
Trump has made it clear that he hopes to see the two countries establish ties. In his last term, his administration brokered the Abraham Accords, which established relations between Israel and four Arab nations.
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דגלי ישראל וסעודיה
דגלי ישראל וסעודיה
The Israeli and Saudi flags
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Saudi officials have consistently said that the kingdom will not establish peace with Israel until a Palestinian state is declared with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“Various U.S. administrations have tried to pressure Saudi Arabia to start relations with Israel, and the answer has always been that there must be a recognized Palestinian state, and then there will be Saudi-Israeli relations,” said former Saudi diplomat Hassan Barqi. “This is the opinion that Saudi Arabia says, in secret and in public.”
Barqi said that Saudi Arabia would stand firm on this condition, regardless of the October 7 attacks and Trump’s declared intention to resettle Palestinians in other countries.
“Now things are easier. Most of the Hamas leaders have been assassinated, Hamas has lost its power, and it may be easy to establish a Palestinian state according to the conditions of the international community. And there are more countries in the world that recognize Palestine as a state,” Barqi said. “This is what paves the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state, and President Donald Trump has been convinced of this idea from the beginning.”
On the other hand, Aisha Al-Sayed, an Egyptian journalist, dismissed Saudi Arabia’s conditions for normalization with Israel as “a thing of the past.”
“Saudi Arabia sees that it does not benefit from the Palestinian issue, and its priorities have changed. It only looks at economic and social interests and the desire for development,” Al-Sayed said. “As for fixed issues such as the Palestinian issue, it will not continue to defend them, and it will sign a peace agreement with Israel within the next four years.”

Tense role in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia’s relations with fellow Middle Eastern and Arab countries have caused controversy in recent years. When King Salman came to power in 2015, Saudi Arabia changed its regional strategy.
Two months after Salman was crowned, Saudi Arabia declared war on the Houthis in Yemen. In 2022, after years of devastating fighting, Saudi Arabia recognized that it had failed to impose control over the Houthis and decided to appease the group.
Saudi Arabia also signed a reconciliation agreement with Iran despite years of cold war between the two countries. During the long Saudi-Iranian conflict, a “fifth column” of Iran-affiliated militias targeted Saudi interests several times, striking numerous military, oil and civilian targets in Saudi Arabia with thousands of ballistic missiles.
Relations between Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates deteriorated after Riyadh made several economic decisions that harmed the interests of neighboring countries. Saudi Arabia banned companies without regional headquarters from working on government contracts, which led many companies to withdraw. The kingdom also significantly increased import tariffs from fellow Gulf countries, fanning tensions.
For years, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been in conflict, with Saudi Arabia attempting to exert power over its neighbor to the east. In 2017, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt, led by Saudi Arabia, all simultaneously cut off ties with Qatar. Less than four years later, the two countries reached an agreement that did not involve any of the concessions from Qatar that Saudi Arabia had insisted upon.
Saudi Arabia failed to resolve the civil war in Sudan, and even after normalizing relations with Bashir Assad’s Syria, it was unable to protect the Syrian leader. Turkey managed to impose Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Turkish-aligned Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham group, as the new leader of Syria, and Saudi Arabia was forced to accept the fall of the Assad regime.
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Having faced numerous regional challenges, Saudi Arabia is now working to expand its influence through economic interests. The kingdom has signed many economic agreements with Iraq, which is ruled by parties loyal to Iran. It also has economic agreements with Egypt and Oman. Upcoming agreements are expected with Lebanon and perhaps Syria. Saudi Arabia’s influence on African countries remains comparatively weak.
“Saudi Arabia may not appear in the picture, but it is working to solve the region’s problems through its extensive international relations, and this is the secret,” according to Mamdouh Al-Kharif, a Saudi political analyst. “Its steps are taken in secret to solve the region’s problems and not increase them.”
Al-Kharif said that many of the kingdom’s regional strategies will take a long time to come to fruition. “Gulf relations are witnessing significant growth. There are no fundamental differences, but rather a redrawing of the relationship to be better and sustainable for the future, and so that the differences do not return,” he said. “As for Saudi Arabia’s relationship with the Arab countries, it is for the growth of this region again and for it to be in a better economic state.”
While asserting that “compatibility” between Trump and the Saudi leadership would lead to the resolution of many issues in the Middle East, Al-Kharif insisted that Saudi Arabia’s role in the region is independent of the US.
“The change in the US administration has nothing to do with Saudi Arabia’s influence, as it had influence even under the administration of former President Joe Biden,” he said. “Saudi Arabia does not rely on anyone for its influence, but rather on its internal strength, its great diplomacy and its extensive relations.”
This article is written by Ali Hussain and republished with permission from The Media Line
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