President Trump is expected to visit Saudi Arabia in May, two sources confirmed to CBS News. It will be the first foreign trip since his return to the White House.
Mr. Trump told reporters earlier this month that he was considering making the visit, noting that traditionally, presidents often make their first foreign trip to the U.S.-allied United Kingdom. A visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2017 also marked the first foreign trip of Mr. Trump’s first term.
Saudi Arabia is of key diplomatic importance to the Trump White House, especially amid ongoing tension in the Middle East and the Israel-Hamas war.
During Mr. Trump’s first term, his administration brokered a diplomatic breakthrough that normalized relations between Israel and a number of Arab states, including Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Morocco. Expanding that agreement, known as the Abraham Accords, is a key goal of Trump’s second term.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a joint press conference with Mr. Trump on Feb. 4 that “peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only feasible; it’s going to happen.”
The king of Saudi Arabia has long made clear that the cost of formal diplomatic recognition and normalization of relations with Israel is a Palestinian state, and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has also suggested that recognition is still conditional on a pathway to a potential state. The Biden administration had hoped to close such a deal, but talks were suspended in October 2023.
During the joint news conference with Netanyahu on Feb. 4, Mr. Trump was asked by a reporter if Saudi Arabia is “demanding” a Palestinian state as a precondition of normalizing relations with Israel, Mr. Trump responded “no, they’re not.” Saudi Arabia quickly refuted the comments without mentioning Mr. Trump by name, with the foreign ministry saying in a statement to the Times of Israel that its commitment is “firm and unwavering” to returning to the pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Mr. Trump has publicly floated the idea that wealthy countries like Saudi Arabia might foot the bill for rebuilding Gaza, which has been destroyed in the Israel-Hamas war and has been described by Mr. Trump as uninhabitable.
Bin Salman has also tried to reposition himself as a peace broker and recently hosted two rounds of U.S. diplomatic meetings with Ukraine and Russia.
The news of the upcoming presidential trip to Saudi Arabia was first reported by Axios.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, or Public Investment Fund, or PIF, is one of the biggest in the world with more than $900 billion in assets under management. The governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund said on Feb. 21 that he’s prepared to invest more in Mr. Trump’s second term, and bin Salman vowed to Mr. Trump in a call shortly after he took office that the kingdom would invest $600 billion in the U.S.
Mr. Trump also has personal business interests with the Saudi government. His golf club has hosted LIV golf tournaments, the breakaway golf league founded by the Public Investment Fund. Mr. Trump has also hosted negotiations at the White House between LIV and the PGA golf tour.
The Public Investment Fund has invested $2 billion in a business run by Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and former adviser, Jared Kushner. And in February, Mr. Trump spoke at an investment conference in Miami sponsored by the sovereign wealth fund.
