Trade Saudi Arabia vows to invest $600bn in the US By Edmund Bower January 23, 2025, 9:00 AM Alamy/Zuma Press Donald Trump, pictured with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman MBS and Trump spoke on call Spend to rise over four years Talked about peacemaking Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told President Donald Trump that he intends to increase the kingdom’s investments and trade with the US by at least $600 billion over the next four years. The call was the first Trump took with a foreign leader after beginning his second term as president. Bin Salman congratulated the newly inaugurated president on his win by telephone on Wednesday, wishing “the friendly American people more progress and prosperity under the President’s leadership”, the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. The Crown Prince said he expected Trump’s promised reforms to create economic opportunities in which Saudi Arabia would seek to participate. The leaders also discussed cooperation on peacemaking efforts, regional stability and combatting terrorism. SPA did not publish any proposed deals or any indication of the destination for the proposed $600 billion increase in trade and investment. US goods and services trade with Saudi Arabia was worth $46.6 billion in 2022, with Saudi exports accounting for $23.3 billion, mostly driven by oil sales. The Office of the United States Trade Representative estimates the size of Saudi investment stock in the US at $6.8 billion in 2022, up 7 percent from the previous year. Saudi Arabia’s top 10 trade partners Saudi Arabia is investing billions of dollars at home and abroad to diversify its economy away from oil. On Wednesday, finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan told a crowd at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the kingdom has set a target of $100 returns for every dollar invested. So far, he said, the kingdom has received closer to $200 for every dollar invested. Also in Davos, CEO of Kingdom Holding Talal al-Maiman told Al Arabiya on Wednesday that the company would consider investing in TikTok “if Musk, or others, offered”. Since becoming president, Trump has suspended a law, signed by President Joe Biden last April with bi-partisan support, mandating the sale or closure of the social media app. Trump has continued to voice support for a change in TikTok’s ownership, suggesting that he would be pleased if Musk were to buy it. Kingdom Holding became the joint second-biggest shareholder of X, formerly Twitter, following Musk’s takeover in 2022. It also acquired a $400 million stake in xAI, an artificial intelligence company backed by Musk, in December. Trump maintained good relations with Saudi Arabia’s leadership during his first term in office. The first foreign trip he made as president was to Riyadh in 2017. Trump inauguration: Saudi Arabia comes into focus Trump doubles down on energy and trade on first day in job Tech and crypto make a mark as Trump takes charge On Tuesday he told reporters in the Oval Office that while US presidents tend to use their first foreign visit to travel to the UK, “I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our product.” Asked if he would make Riyadh his first foreign visit in his second term as well, Trump responded “I don’t know”, but indicated that he might if Saudi Arabia agreed to spend another $400 billion or $500 billion. “We’ll up it for all the inflation,” he said.