BICOM

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will meet US President Donald Trump today, as part of his extended visit to the US.

Following his visit to London earlier this month, the Crown Prince’s meetings in Washington are expected to focus on Saudi-US defence relations. Saudi Arabia agreed to purchase 48 Typhoon fighter jets from the UK during the Crown Prince’s visit to the UK earlier this month, who also acts as Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister. The deal formed part of a renewed £65bn trade deal between the two countries.

The Crown Prince recently said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview that Saudi Arabia would build its own nuclear weapons if Iran were to develop them. “Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but without a doubt, if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we will follow suit as soon as possible,” he said. The Crown Prince also said he was working on an initiative for equal pay for men and women as part of his attempts to modernise the Kingdom.

Speaking to CNN News yesterday, Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Khalid bin Salman talked about Saudi Arabia’s role in the conflict in Yemen, explaining that Iran wants to form “another Hezbollah in Yemen, which will not just threaten our security and Yemeni security, but also regional security”.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington also confirmed on Sunday that today’s visit will lay the foundations for Crown Prince Mohammed’s father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, to visit Washington later this year.

The Crown Prince is spending a full two weeks in the US on a lengthy trip that will include visits to New York, Boston, Houston, Seattle and California, where he will meet representatives from Apple and Google. Saudi plans to diversify the oil-dependent economy will involve seeking investment from private US companies. Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser told CNBC that he had been in discussions with Google’s parent company Alphabet over building a data centre in the Kingdom.

Crown Prince Mohammed will also meet Hollywood film producers in Los Angeles in his trip, ahead of Saudi Arabia’s plans to open commercial cinemas for the first time in 35 years later this year, according to Bloomberg.