US and Saudi Arabia Hold Last-Minute Security Talks Ahead of Bin Salman's Visit

Security Guarantees Likely Through Trump Executive Order
Wide Gap Remains on Normalizing Relations with Israel

According to a report by the U.S. online media outlet Axios on November 12 (local time), officials from both the United States and Saudi Arabia are engaged in last-minute negotiations to finalize a wide-ranging agreement, including security guarantees, on the occasion of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit to the United States.

Axios reported that Jared Kushner, son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, visited Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, last weekend and met privately with Crown Prince bin Salman. It was also revealed that Musaad Al Aiban, Saudi Arabia's National Security Advisor, recently visited the United States. According to sources, Kushner discussed the future direction of issues related to the Gaza Strip.

Donald Trump, President of the United States (left), and Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Photo by AP Yonhap News

Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Crown Prince's younger brother and close aide, also visited the United States on November 10 and 11 to prepare for the summit, meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense (Secretary of War) Pete Hegseth, and White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

In advance of Crown Prince bin Salman's visit to the United States, the two countries are discussing the issue of the United States providing security guarantees to Saudi Arabia.

Sources indicated that a formal, legally binding defense treaty is unlikely to pass the U.S. Senate, so a security guarantee in the form of a pledge through an executive order by President Trump is considered the most likely option. Previously, in September, President Trump made a similar security commitment to Qatar using this method. However, this approach could be revoked by a future U.S. administration.

Additionally, Saudi Arabia is seeking to purchase a large number of U.S.-made weapons, including dozens of F-35 fighter jets.

The normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel is also a key agenda item for the upcoming Trump-bin Salman summit. However, there remains a significant gap between Saudi Arabia and Israel on the issue of recognizing a Palestinian state, requiring further discussion.

According to foreign media, Crown Prince bin Salman is scheduled to meet with President Trump at the White House on November 18. This will be Crown Prince bin Salman's first visit to the United States since the 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which he is suspected of having approved.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.