Trump to ask Saudi Arabia to boost investment pledge in U.S. to $1 trillion

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday touted Saudi Arabia’s pledge to invest $600 billion in America in the next four years, while suggesting the figure should actually be higher.

“It’s also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America,” Trump told an audience at Davos via video call, while mentioning major announcements of investment plans by foreign companies into the country.

“But I’ll be asking the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around 1 trillion. I think they’ll do that, because we’ve been very good to them,” he said, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Saudi Arabia’s state media outlet, the Saudi Press Agency, on Thursday published details of a call between the Crown Prince and Trump, during which the Saudi de-facto leader congratulated his American counterpart on his inauguration and the two discussed bilateral relations.

Bin Salman told Trump that he expected the incoming administration’s planned reforms “to create unprecedented economic prosperity” and that “the kingdom seeks to benefit from its available opportunities for partnership and investment,” according to a Google translation of the report.

The Crown Prince expressed “the kingdom’s desire to expand its investments and trade relations with the United States in the next four years by an amount of $600 billion, expected to increase if additional opportunities become available,” the Saudi report said.

The news came a few days after Trump on Monday suggested the first overseas trip of his new term could be to Saudi Arabia, as it was after his first ascent to the presidency in 2017. But that would also come with a price, he suggested.

“The first foreign trip typically has been with the U.K. but … I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our products,” Trump told press from the White House, in comments reported by the Associated Press. “If Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another $450 billion or $500 — we’ll up it for all the inflation — I think I’d probably go.”

Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince developed a famously warm relationship, though it was punctured by the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and by threats from Trump against OPEC, demands that the kingdom pump more oil to bring global crude prices down.

Trump’s re-election to the presidency has been followed by a slew of investment pledges by foreign countries and companies, including a pledge by Softbank’s Masayoshi Son to commit $100 billion to American A.I. and dater center projects, and a planned $20 billion investment from United Arab Emirates property firm Damac to invest in data centers in the U.S.

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