BEIRUT \u00a0\u2014\u00a0Seven years ago, he was virtually persona non grata, any link to him considered kryptonite among U.S. political and business elite for his alleged role in the killing of a Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic.<\/p>\n
But when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to Washington this week, he cemented a remarkable comeback, positioning himself as the linchpin of a new regional order in the Middle East, and his country as an essential partner in America\u2019s AI-driven future.<\/p>\n
During what amounted to a state visit, the crown prince \u2014 Saudi Arabia\u2019s de facto leader \u2014 was given the literal red carpet treatment: A Marine band, flag-bearing horsemen and a squadron of F-35s in the skies above; a black-tie dinner attended by a raft of business leaders in the prince\u2019s honor; a U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center the next day.<\/p>\n
Throughout, Bin Salman (or MBS, as many call him) proved himself a keen practitioner of the brand of transactional politics favored by President Trump.<\/p>\n
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President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman walk down the Colonnade on the way to the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
(Brendan Smialowski \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
He fulfilled Trump\u2019s ask, first floated back in May during the Riyadh edition of the U.S.-Saudi Forum, to raise the kingdom\u2019s U.S. investment commitments from $600 million to almost $1 trillion.<\/p>\n
And the prince managed to mollify Trump in his oft-repeated call for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords,<\/a> the normalization pacts with Israel brokered during the president\u2019s first term, even while changing nothing of his long-stated position: That establishing ties with Israel be accompanied by steps toward Palestinian statehood \u2014 an outcome many in Israel\u2019s political class reject. <\/p>\n \u201cWe believe having a good relation with all Middle Eastern countries is a good thing, and we want to be part of the Abraham Accords. But we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path [to a] two-state solution,\u201d Bin Salman said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want peace with the Israelis. We want peace with the Palestinians, we want them to coexist peacefully,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n President Trump greets Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, at the White House on Tuesday.<\/p>\n (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n At home in Saudi Arabia, the trip was touted as an unequivocal triumph for the prince. Saudi state media boasted the country\u2019s emergence as a major non-NATO ally for the U.S., and the signing of a so-called Strategic Defense Agreement as demonstrating Riyadh\u2019s centrality to American strategic thinking.<\/p>\n This touting came despite little clarity on what that agreement actually entails: Its text wasn\u2019t published, and it was mentioned only in passing in a White House \u201cfact sheet,\u201d which emphasized Saudi Arabia would \u201cbuy American\u201d with significant purchases of tanks, missiles and F-35s; the latter would be the first time the U.S.\u2019 most advanced jet is sold to an Arab country.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia will also be given access to top-line AI chips, enabling it to leverage plentiful land and energy resources to build data centers while \u201cprotecting U.S. technology from foreign influence,\u201d according to the White House.<\/p>\n Talks over Riyadh\u2019s civilian nuclear program, stalled for a decade over concerns from previous administrations, yielded a framework that in theory allows Saudi Arabia to build a nuclear plant. Uranium enrichment, which in theory would allow weaponization, isn\u2019t part of the agreement, U.S. officials say.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia\u2019s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Trump watch a flyover of F-15 and F-35 fighters before meeting at the White House.<\/p>\n (Brendan Smialowski \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n On the regional politics front, Bin Salman got a pledge from Trump to help broker an end to the war in Sudan.<\/p>\n The visit capped Bin Salman\u2019s stunning redemption arc from the nadir of his reputation seven years ago.<\/p>\n Back then, his image as a dauntless reformer \u2014 reversing bans on women driving, neutering the country\u2019s notorious religious police \u2014 was already crumbling after he sought to silence not only foreign opponents, but anyone domestically who questioned Vision 2030, his far-reaching (and hugely expensive) plan for transforming Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n Then came the 2018 strangulation and dismemberment<\/a> in Turkey of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi insider-turned-mild-critic and Washington Post columnist. <\/p>\n Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seen inside a vehicle while leaving the White House after a meeting in the Oval Office with President Trump.<\/p>\n (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Trump appeared more inclined to side with the prince, who denied any involvement in the killing, but the CIA said in a leaked report it had high confidence the prince ordered Khashoggi\u2019s assassination.<\/a><\/p>\n Association with Bin Salman, once Washington\u2019s Middle East darling, became toxic. International companies rushed to pull out of the kingdom. Politicians made it clear he was unwelcome. Then-candidate Joe Biden vowed to make the Saudi government \u201ca pariah.\u201d<\/p>\n In time, the prince stepped back from his more pugilistic policies, while geopolitics, energy concerns and a turbulent Middle East forced Biden to moderate his rejectionist stance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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