Trump says he’s making Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally

President Trump said Tuesday he will designate Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, marking a step up in defense ties between the United States and the Gulf monarchy.

Mr. Trump announced the move at a black-tie dinner at the White House in honor of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. The two leaders signed a new strategic defense deal earlier in the day, and Mr. Trump said Monday the U.S. will sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia.

The designation could open the door to further collaboration between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. military, including easier access to U.S.-made military equipment. It’s also a symbolic move: Mr. Trump said in brief remarks Tuesday evening that it would take “our military cooperation to even greater heights.”

There are currently 20 major non-NATO allies, including other Middle Eastern countries like Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan.

“A stronger and more capable alliance will advance the interests of both countries, and it will serve the highest interests of peace,” Mr. Trump said during Tuesday’s dinner.

The U.S.’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia dates back eight decades, bookended by a meeting between King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud and former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt aboard a U.S. Navy cruiser in 1945. The two countries have long cooperated on defense, and in recent decades, they have been bound together in part by a mutual rivalry with Iran.

During Tuesday’s meetings — marked by elaborate White House ceremonies and a military flyover — Mr. Trump pressed for even further military and economic cooperation with the Gulf state. The White House said Tuesday that Saudi Arabia will buy hundreds of tanks and fighter jets and will partner with the U.S. on artificial intelligence and civil nuclear issues, while bin Salman pledged to invest nearly $1 trillion in the U.S., up from $600 billion.

Members of Mr. Trump’s family also have some business interests in the country. Mr. Trump insisted earlier Tuesday he has “nothing to do” with those deals, and “they’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually.”

Still unclear is whether Saudi Arabia will sign onto the Abraham Accords, a series of diplomatic deals brokered by Mr. Trump between Israel and majority-Muslim states like the United Arab Emirates. Most of those agreements were inked during the president’s first term, and Mr. Trump told “60 Minutes” he believes Saudi Arabia will also join.  

During an Oval Office event earlier Tuesday, bin Salman told reporters he wants to join the accords but needs to see a path toward a Palestinian state. Mr. Trump added that the two leaders “had a very good talk on the Abraham Accords.”

But Saudi Arabia’s human rights record makes it a controversial U.S. partner. American intelligence agencies concluded in 2021 that bin Salman approved the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist who regularly criticized the country’s regime in the pages of The Washington Post.

Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday he believes bin Salman “knew nothing” about the 2018 killing, and called Khashoggi “extremely controversial.” Bin Salman said it was “really painful to hear” about the killing.