{"id":243001,"date":"2025-02-20T12:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T12:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/thanks-to-trump-saudi-arabia-gets-a-big-week-in-diplomacy\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T12:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T12:13:07","slug":"thanks-to-trump-saudi-arabia-gets-a-big-week-in-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/thanks-to-trump-saudi-arabia-gets-a-big-week-in-diplomacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanks to Trump, Saudi Arabia Gets a Big Week in Diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20saudi-1-bqkc\/20saudi-1-bqkc-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Thanks to Trump, Saudi Arabia Gets a Big Week in Diplomacy\" title=\"Thanks to Trump, Saudi Arabia Gets a Big Week in Diplomacy\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Only a few years ago, Washington was calling Saudi Arabia <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/10\/world\/middleeast\/saudi-leader-prince-mohammed.html\" title=\"\">a \u201cpariah\u201d<\/a> over its headline-making human rights violations. Western business leaders canceled investments in the kingdom. Celebrities and sports stars took flack for doing events there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With its oil and its regional clout, however, Saudi Arabia proved too useful for the Biden administration to push the kingdom away for too long. And just a few weeks into the second term of President Trump, who nurtured <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/07\/15\/world\/middleeast\/saudi-arabia-biden-trump.html\" title=\"\">a cozy relationship<\/a> with the kingdom when he was last in office, Saudi Arabia\u2019s stock is once again on the rise \u2014 even if Mr. Trump\u2019s approach to the region is not always to the Saudis\u2019 liking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This week, all of the diplomacy is in Riyadh, the kingdom\u2019s capital. On Friday, Arab leaders are expected to gather to hammer out a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/19\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-reconstruction-alternatives.html\" title=\"\">counterproposal<\/a> meant to persuade Mr. Trump not to deport all of the some two million people in Gaza to Arab countries, mainly <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/12\/world\/middleeast\/trump-gaza-egypt-jordan.html\" title=\"\">Egypt and Jordan<\/a>, and transform the strip into a \u201cRiviera of the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Tuesday, senior American and Russian officials met in Riyadh for <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/18\/world\/europe\/us-russia-saudi-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">opening talks<\/a> over ending the war in Ukraine and re-establishing normal relations, another major foreign policy priority of Mr. Trump\u2019s. The Russian delegation was based at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where Saudi Arabia\u2019s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, once <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/06\/world\/middleeast\/ritz-carlton-riyadh-saudi-princes.html\" title=\"\">locked up<\/a> hundreds of powerful businessmen and royal family members in an early quest to consolidate power. (Saudi Arabia said it was a crackdown on corruption.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This time, Saudi Arabia was presenting a very different image, facilitating the talks on Tuesday with a lunch menu of Arab and Western specialties that included a \u201csymphony of scallop, shrimps and salmon\u201d and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/cooking.nytimes.com\/recipes\/1014520-knafeh-a-la-creme?q=knafe\" title=\"\">knafeh<\/a> cheesecake, according to Russian state television.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cCountry of peace,\u201d read the hashtag accompanying some <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KSAMOFA\/status\/1891903629008785481\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">social media posts<\/a> about the Tuesday talks from government and state media accounts. Others had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B5%D9%85%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%8A?src=hashtag_click\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a hashtag<\/a> calling the kingdom \u201ccapital of world decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Meeting Mr. Trump\u2019s handpicked envoys in Riyadh on Monday night, Prince Mohammed told them: \u201cWe would be more than glad to work with you and with President Trump and his administration. I believe we can achieve positive things, for Saudi Arabia and for many countries around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump also spoke late Wednesday at an investment summit in Miami Beach hosted by Saudi Arabia\u2019s affluent sovereign wealth fund in which he praised Riyadh\u2019s role in the Russia-U.S. talks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Saudis\u2019 big week in international diplomacy has been long in the making. The Arab world\u2019s traditional leaders, including Egypt, Iraq and Syria, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/01\/26\/world\/middleeast\/saudis-expand-regional-power-as-others-falter.html\" title=\"\">are weakened<\/a> by years of internal turmoil. Under Prince Mohammed, Saudi Arabia has taken advantage of its size, wealth and status as the guardian of some of Islam\u2019s holiest sites to fill that gap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The high-profile diplomacy \u201cserves to showcase the kingdom\u2019s global influence and regional leadership,\u201d said Hasan Alhasan, a senior fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a policy analysis group. He noted that waning U.S. influence on the global stage had allowed \u201cagile actors\u201d like Saudi Arabia to step up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Analysts, including some close to the royal court, said a canny Saudi strategy to cultivate relations beyond the United States during the years of strain with the Biden administration had paid off in the U.S.-Russia talks on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent years, Saudi Arabia has built economic <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/06\/12\/world\/middleeast\/saudi-china-investment-forum.html\" title=\"\">links with China<\/a> and avoided taking sides in the war in Ukraine. Its neutrality allowed it to help broker prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine and Russia and the United States, and to host both Russia\u2019s president, Vladimir V. Putin, and Ukraine\u2019s president, Volodymyr Zelensky \u2014 though Mr. Zelensky canceled a planned visit to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday out of frustration at being excluded from the previous day\u2019s talks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Saudi Arabia has also positioned itself as the biggest prize in Israel\u2019s pursuit of normalized relations with Arab neighbors, giving the Saudis leverage to push for a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/09\/us\/politics\/saudi-arabia-israel-united-states.html\" title=\"\">defense pact<\/a> with the United States. As Israel\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/news-event\/israel-hamas-gaza\" title=\"\">assault on Gaza<\/a> intensified after the Hamas-led <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/issue\/world\/2024\/10\/21\/the-oct-7-attacks\" title=\"\">Oct. 7, 2023, attack<\/a>, the Saudis also increasingly conditioned the deal on a pathway toward statehood for the Palestinians, a long-held dream for most of the Arab world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Its continuing talks with the United States and Israel over normalization, along with the fact that it is expected to help fund any reconstruction of Gaza, makes Saudi Arabia a natural choice to convene Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on Friday to discuss a reconstruction proposal for Gaza that they hope will serve as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/19\/world\/middleeast\/gaza-reconstruction-alternatives.html\" title=\"\">an alternative<\/a> to Mr. Trump\u2019s ideas for the territory.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The proposed grand bargain between Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/17\/us\/politics\/israel-saudi-arabia-gaza.html\" title=\"\">first shepherded<\/a> by the Biden administration. President Joseph R. Biden Jr. saw opportunity in the agreement even though, as a candidate, he <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/02\/24\/us\/politics\/biden-jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia.html\" title=\"\">declared Saudi Arabia<\/a> a \u201cpariah\u201d over its bombings of civilians in Yemen and Saudi agents\u2019 gruesome <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/video\/world\/middleeast\/100000006154117\/khashoggi-istanbul-death-saudi-consulate.html\" title=\"\">killing of Jamal Khashoggi<\/a>, a Saudi Washington Post columnist and Virginia resident.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Still, it is Mr. Trump, whose first visit to a foreign country in his first term was to Saudi Arabia, who has elevated the Gulf kingdom to the status of trusted friend and partner in global affairs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cTrump is recognizing them as the Arab leader,\u201d said Hussein Ibish, a senior scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. \u201cThey wanted to be treated like that, and under Trump they are being treated like that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/13\/world\/europe\/trump-putin-saudi-arabia-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">has said<\/a> the kingdom was chosen for his potential first meeting with Mr. Putin since returning to the White House because of the two presidents\u2019 relationship with Prince Mohammed. Mr. Trump proposed the country in his phone call last week with Mr. Putin as a venue, according to Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putin\u2019s spokesman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe know the crown prince, and I think it\u2019d be a very good place to be,\u201d Mr. Trump said last week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet if Mr. Trump handed Saudi Arabia an unqualified win by selecting it to host the U.S.-Russia talks, his return to the White House has <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/07\/world\/middleeast\/trump-saudi-israel-palestinians.html\" title=\"\">also imperiled<\/a> another major priority for Prince Mohammed: securing a defense pact and help with developing a civilian nuclear program from the United States in exchange for normalizing relations with Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Forcibly expelling Palestinians from Gaza, as Mr. Trump has proposed, would be not only a war crime that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/11\/world\/middleeast\/international-law-trump-gaza.html\" title=\"\">violates international law<\/a>, according to experts, but would also erase any remaining hope of a Palestinian state on existing Palestinian land. The Saudi population overwhelmingly supports Palestinian statehood, and Prince Mohammed has shown he will not go against its wishes: The Saudi government responded to Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal by announcing that it would not normalize with Israel without a Palestinian state being established.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The precondition, which the Saudis have <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/04\/us\/politics\/saudi-arabia-palestine-trump-gaza.html\" title=\"\">insisted on<\/a> for the past year, is \u201cnonnegotiable and not subject to compromises,\u201d the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/KSAmofaEN\/status\/1886953044484473007\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a statement<\/a> this month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Given Israel\u2019s opposition to Palestinian statehood, the chances of a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal, along with the Saudi-U.S. defense agreement, look increasingly remote, at least in the near term, Mr. Ibish said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even so, Saudi officials may have reaped benefits on that front from the time they spent with senior Trump administration officials in Riyadh this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Fostering ties with Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, and especially Steve Witkoff, a longtime friend of Mr. Trump\u2019s who serves as his special envoy to the Middle East, may help Saudi Arabia in its dealings with the United States over Gaza and normalization, Saudi political analysts said. Prince Mohammed spoke to Mr. Rubio about Gaza and Ukraine on Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Witkoff, who, like his boss, is a New York <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/25\/us\/politics\/witkoff-trump-middle-east-envoy.html\" title=\"\">real estate magnate<\/a>, has emerged as a key figure at the heart of Mr. Trump\u2019s foreign deal-making. He stepped beyond his ostensible job title to attend the Russia-U.S. talks in Riyadh on Tuesday and help secure <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/11\/us\/politics\/marc-fogel-teacher-released-russia.html\" title=\"\">the release<\/a> last week of Marc Fogel, an American teacher held in Russia since 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Witkoff will \u201cundoubtedly listen carefully to what the Saudis have to say about Gaza,\u201d said Salman al-Ansari, a Saudi analyst. \u201cAlthough there were initial disagreements regarding Gaza, I believe they will find a way forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In any case, the two countries\u2019 relationship does not hinge only on normalization, the defense pact or Palestinian statehood, especially under Mr. Trump. That was amply demonstrated in late January, when Prince Mohammed told Mr. Trump that Saudi Arabia intended to bolster its investment and trade with the United States by <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/23\/us\/politics\/trump-us-saudi-arabia-investment-trade.html\" title=\"\">at least $600 billion<\/a> over the next four years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Anton Troianovski<!-- --> contributed reporting from Riyadh, and <!-- -->Kate Kelly<!-- --> from Florida.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/20\/world\/middleeast\/trump-saudi-arabia-diplomacy.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Only a few years ago, Washington was calling Saudi Arabia a \u201cpariah\u201d over its headline-making human rights violations. Western business leaders canceled investments in the kingdom. Celebrities and sports stars took flack for doing events there. With its oil and its regional clout, however, Saudi Arabia proved too useful for the Biden administration to push [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/20\/multimedia\/20saudi-1-bqkc\/20saudi-1-bqkc-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8577,45,995,8772,167636,163575,3747,32652,3096,38,49949,16783,128438,188933,86565,172703,169089,167635,209,187772,170339,202,8576,13294,15136,52,1130,1213,1021,128437,128440,111224,1513,168654],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243001"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":243003,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243001\/revisions\/243003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}