Meetings aim to deepen strategic trust between the United States and Saudi Arabia and secure Gulf backing amid a potential U.S.-China confrontation. Norm Roule emphasizes that closer, more frequent visits by the Saudi Crown Prince and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed will be necessary to ensure Gulf partners stand with the United States. A possible November White House meeting seeks to finalize commercial, economic, defense, and energy agreements initiated during U.S. engagements in Riyadh in May 2025. Those agreements are considered socially and economically transformational for the Kingdom and constitute a major U.S. investment in regional alignment and energy-sector ties. Roule brings decades of CIA and ODNI experience on Iran and Middle East policy.
"The time may well be coming when the U.S. and China will face off and we will need to ask our Gulf partners to stand with us in that tough moment," former National Intelligence Manager for Iran at ODNI Norm Roule. "To do this, we need closer and more regular visits by the Saudi Crown Prince, as well as the Emirati President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed."
How would you expect those agreements to be furthered during this trip? In other words, what would success look like in November? Roule: The purpose of the trip is to complete the multiple commercial, economic, defense, and energy agreements developed during the unprecedented meetings by President Trump, U.S. cabinet ministers, and several dozen senior U.S. business leaders in the Kingdom in May 2025. These deals are viewed as socially and economically transformational agreements by the Kingdom.
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