Trump said he was \u2018taking our military cooperation to even greater heights\u2019 by granting Saudi Arabia designation
\n washington
\nPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday designated Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, reviving a decades-old strategic partnership as the two countries signed sweeping agreements on arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals.
\nThe designation signals a return to traditional US-Saudi ties. While it doesn\u2019t provide the mutual defense guarantees enjoyed by NATO members, it grants the kingdom significant economic, military, and defense benefits, a status the US reserves for countries of strategic importance outside the Atlantic alliance. Pakistan received this designation from Bush post 9\/11 in 2004.
\nThe meeting underscored Trump\u2019s determination to prioritize ties between the world\u2019s biggest economy and its top oil exporter, even as the international outcry over journalist Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s 2018 killing has gradually faded from diplomatic discourse.
\nTrump said he was \u201ctaking our military cooperation to even greater heights\u201d by granting Saudi Arabia the designation, adding that US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made the kingdom safer.
\nSaudi Arabia paid a steep price for the honor, becoming the 20th country on the list. Under a Strategic Defense Agreement that \u201cfortifies deterrence across the Middle East,\u201d Riyadh committed to new burden-sharing funds to offset US costs while making it easier for American defense firms to operate in the kingdom.
\nThe countries also completed negotiations on civil nuclear energy cooperation, which the White House described as the legal foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership\u2014a deal that has raised concerns among nonproliferation experts given Saudi Arabia\u2019s previous statements about potentially pursuing nuclear weapons.
\nCrown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to increase Saudi investment in the US to $1 trillion, up sharply from an earlier commitment of $600 billion.
\nThe agreements represent a significant diplomatic win for Trump, who has made courting Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies central to his Middle East strategy in his second term. The designation puts Saudi Arabia in the company of countries like Israel, Japan, South Korea, and Australia\u2014though unlike NATO members, Riyadh will not be covered by the alliance\u2019s collective defense clause.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Trump said he was \u2018taking our military cooperation to even greater heights\u2019 by granting Saudi Arabia designation washington President Donald Trump on Tuesday designated Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, reviving a decades-old strategic partnership as the two countries signed sweeping agreements on arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence, and critical minerals. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-515587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n