RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat is in Washington to lay the groundwork for US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit, the first foreign trip of his second term, a Saudi government source said on Wednesday.

Last month, Trump said he may visit Saudi Arabia as early as April in a reprisal of 2017, when the oil-rich, conservative kingdom was the first destination of his first term in office.

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Washington on Tuesday, aiming to “prepare for Trump’s visit to Riyadh”, the source close to the Saudi government said.

The source said “developments in Gaza, Yemen and Syria” were also on Prince Faisal’s agenda. The official Saudi Press Agency said Prince Faisal was set to meet his US counterpart Marco Rubio to discuss “key regional and international developments”.

In January, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, promised to pile $600 billion into US trade and investments.

Trump later said Saudi Arabia had agreed to “spend close to a trillion dollars… in our American companies, which to me means jobs”. Trump forged close relations with Riyadh in his first term and is expected to push Saudi Arabia towards normalising ties with Israel as a major foreign policy objective.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2025