US President Donald Trump announced today from Saudi Arabia Riyadh’s commitment to invest $600 billion in the United States, in a move that marks a strengthening of strategic ties between the two countries.
As the White House said in a statement, the first deals under this partnership strengthen energy security, the defense industry, US leadership in technology, and access to global infrastructure and critical minerals.
Among the biggest deals are a $20 billion investment by Saudi Arabia’s DataVolt to build artificial intelligence data centers and energy infrastructure in the United States.
Meanwhile, leading US tech companies such as Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, and Uber are pledging to invest $80 billion in innovative technologies in the two countries.
US companies such as Hill International, Jacobs, Parsons, and AECOM will take on infrastructure projects such as King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, The Vaul,t and Qiddiya City, worth a total of $2 billion in US services.
Record defence deals
Meanwhile, the White House is touting the largest defense arms deal in history, worth nearly $142 billion, between the two countries, which provides Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art military equipment and services from more than a dozen U.S. defense companies.
This package covers five key areas: aerospace technologies, air defense and missile defense systems, naval and coastal security, land border protection, and military information and communications systems modernization.
In addition to the procurement of weapons systems, the package includes extensive training and technical support to enhance the operational capability of the Saudi armed forces, with a particular focus on the military academies and the army’s medical services.
As the statement stressed, “This agreement represents a significant investment in Saudi Arabia’s defense and regional security, based on U.S. systems and U.S. training.”
Energy and technology cooperation
At the same time, as part of the expanded cooperation, the US Department of Energy and the Saudi Ministry of Energy signed an agreement to develop and finance energy infrastructure, and a memorandum of understanding was signed for cooperation on mining and processing of critical minerals, to enhance the resilience of supply chains.
In addition to energy, NASA and the Saudi Arabian Space Agency signed an agreement to launch a CubeSat as part of the Artemis II mission to measure space weather conditions.
“The deepening partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia reflects a shared vision for long-term prosperity and job opportunities in both countries,” the White House stresses, among other things.
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