It’s a big week for Saudi-US relations: Riyadh is gearing up to receive US President Donald Trump this week, in a visit that’s expected to see a flurry of announcements spanning the energy sector, trade and investments, as well as regional issues. The visit is part of a wider tour that starts in the Kingdom, with the UAE and Qatar to follow on the Donald’s itinerary.

SAUDI-US INVESTMENT FORUM

US business executives are set to accompany Trump in his visit to the Kingdom, where they’ll attend the Saudi-US Investment Forum on Tuesday. Discussions will cover key sectors including energy, financial services, AI and tech, manufacturing, defense, healthcare, and venture capital.

A host of Saudi and US government and business figures are scheduled to speak in the summit. Featured speakers include Minister of Energy Prince Abduaziz bin Salman, Saudi National Bank CEO Tareq Al Sadhan, General Authority for Military Industries Governor Ahmad Al Ohali, Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, Ceer CEO James Deluca, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

IN CONTEXT- Riyadh announced a potential USD 600 bn investment package earlier this year, which Trump hopes to raise to USD 1 tn. The Kingdom reportedly plans to leverage Trump’s visit to hit its foreign direct investment target of securing over USD 100 bn annually by 2030, about five times more than last year’s total.

It might not take long to see the results: The US is already planning to develop a fast-track process for screening foreign investments, in a move that would help ease Saudi investments in the country, according to a Treasury Department statement. The initiative would see the US gather information on investors on a portal ahead of investment agreements.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar are in discussions to be included in the initiative, sources in the know told Bloomberg.

EASIER PATH TO NUCLEAR AGREEMENT?

Washington also seems to have dropped normalization with Israel as a prerequisite for advancing a nuclear cooperation agreement with Riyadh ahead of Trump’s visit, Reuters reported, citing two sources it says are in the know.

Trump also hinted in statements to reporters he would not be stopping in Israel during his tour in the region, giving weight to numerous media reports that Washington and Tel Aviv might not be on the best of terms right now.

ICYMI- The US and Saudi Arabia are set to sign a broad energy cooperation agreement soon, expected to pave the way for a nuclear cooperation agreement, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed during a visit to Riyadh in April.

Progress has been slow: While an energy cooperation roadmap was signed in May 2024 and a bilateral agreement was reported as nearly complete, progress on the nuclear pact has been slow due to Saudi Arabia's reportedly non-wavering stance on uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing, a position influenced by Iran's nuclear program.

A GCC-US SUMMIT, TOO?

Formal invitations for a GCC-US summit to be held this week in Riyadh have been sent by the Kingdom to regional leaders, Bahraini royal media adviser Nabeel Al Hamer said in a post on X. News about the GCC summit during US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Kingdom broke last week, with official Saudi sources yet to confirm the news.

On the itinerary: The summit is reportedly set to focus on topics including investment, arms transfers, and AI, in addition to regional issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iran-US negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.

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