by Vivian Nereim at The New York Tmes
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is pushing for a security pact and a nuclear deal with the United States yet is not expected to recognize Israel soon, despite President Trump’s wishes.
The meeting is expected to focus on strengthening U.S.–Saudi relations as President Trump continues urging the kingdom to join the Abraham Accords, the 2020 diplomatic initiative that established normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.
Sources familiar with the visit said discussions will include a proposed mutual defense pact between the two countries, modeled after the security agreement recently signed between the United States and Qatar. The pact would formalize defense commitments and deepen military coordination between Washington and Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia is also seeking to purchase advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets for its air force and to advance a potential deal granting access to U.S. technology for a civilian nuclear energy program, according to two U.S. officials.
The upcoming visit follows President Trump’s May trip to Saudi Arabia, his first major foreign visit of his second term, where he praised the crown prince’s domestic reforms and told Saudi leaders that the United States would no longer be “giving you lectures on how to live.”…
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