Saudi Arabia Pledges $110 Billion Investment in U.S.

During his four-day visit to the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Saudi Arabia would invest $110 billion in the United States, a figure significantly higher than the $600 billion previously disclosed by the White House. Trump, who has been vocal about his desire to attract foreign direct investment, emphasized the strategic importance of this investment during his speech at the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum in Riyadh.

Trump highlighted the rapid pace at which this investment was secured, contrasting it with the efforts of previous administrations. "Look at what other presidents have done. Sometimes it took them years to pull in $100 billion, and we did it in two months," he stated. This announcement came as part of a broader effort to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, with a delegation of prominent American CEOs accompanying Trump on his visit.

The specifics of the investment, including the areas where the $110 billion will be allocated, remain unclear. The White House has not provided detailed information on how the investment will be distributed or the nature of the projects it will support. The feasibility of such a large investment, which is nearly equivalent to Saudi Arabia's GDP, has also been called into question. Despite these uncertainties, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has pledged to work towards achieving Trump's investment target.

Trump's focus on attracting foreign direct investment is consistent with his approach to economic diplomacy, which often involves leveraging his business background to negotiate deals. This strategy was evident in his speech, which covered a range of topics from border policy to tariffs, and was delivered to the accompaniment of his campaign song, "God Bless America."

The investment agreement includes $142 billion in U.S. defense sales, covering various defense technologies such as air defense, maritime security, and information communication systems. Additionally, Boeing is expected to sell $48 billion worth of 737-8 aircraft to Saudi Arabian Airlines. Tech giants like Google, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD, Uber, and Saudi data technology company DataVolt have also committed to investing $800 billion in advanced technologies to drive innovation in both countries.

The investment forum brought together key business leaders from both Saudi Arabia and the United States. Notable figures such as Elon Musk, Larry Fink of BlackRock, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA delivered speeches, while Jane Fraser of Citigroup and Stephen Schwarzman of Blackstone participated in related activities. The event underscored the strategic importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, which extends beyond economic ties to include political and security cooperation.

However, the Crown Prince's investment pledge may conflict with Saudi Arabia's ambitious economic transformation plan, which aims to reduce the country's dependence on oil. The estimated cost of this plan is around $2 trillion, and the Crown Prince's commitment to invest in the U.S. could potentially divert resources away from domestic priorities. For Saudi Arabia, hosting Trump's visit represents a critical opportunity to attract global capital, as the country aims to secure $100 billion in foreign direct investment annually by 2030. In 2022, Saudi Arabia attracted only $207 billion in foreign direct investment, the lowest level since 2020.