Trump Welcomes Saudi Crown Prince to U.S. as `Great Purchaser'

President Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as a friend of the U.S. and "great purchaser" of American armaments and investments.

"A lot of people are at work" because of Saudi Arabia's business, Trump said, adding that the kingdom has finalized $12.5 billion in purchases of planes, missiles and frigates from U.S. companies, Bloomberg reported.

Prince Mohammed praised the kingdom's "really deep" relationship with the U.S. and said the Saudis are considering $400 billion in U.S. investment opportunities.

"A lot of things could be tackled in the close future," the prince added.

Shopping trip for war

Prince Mohammed, also known as MBS, comes to Washington with the rhetoric of a domestic reformer, but under his arm he clutches the shopping-list of a war-monger that includes the acquisition of nuclear reactors. He bought huge amounts of arms in Britain and now comes to meet with President Donald Trump, who is likely to sell him dual-use capability nuclear-reactors which will give him an ego-boost as the loyal U.S. ally in the region, according to Ebrahim Moosa, Professor of Islamic Studies, University of Notre Dame.

Prince Mohammed is starting a three-week trip across the U.S., his first visit since being designated the successor for his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are developing an increasingly close partnership, encompassing everything from isolating Iran to bolstering business ties beyond energy into technology, defense and entertainment, according to top U.S. and Saudi officials.

The Trump administration has adopted a pro-Saudi posture that is a dramatic shift from the Obama administration, which was cool to Saudi Arabia's autocratic rulers over a human rights record that remains abysmal, according to advocacy groups such as Amnesty International. Trump has signaled he won't seek to impose U.S. values on countries that support American foreign policy and economic objectives -- and Prince Mohammed arrives in the U.S. ready to cut deals.

The kingdom's sovereign wealth fund announced on Monday that it would take a $400 million stake in Endeavor, one of Hollywood's biggest talent and event managers. More deals are likely during Prince Mohammed's trip, which runs through April 7.

One focus of Prince Mohammed's meeting with Trump will be expanding cooperation to counter Iran's influence in the Middle East, including the Islamic Republic's alliance with Russia, according to White House officials who briefed reporters before the crown prince's arrival. The agenda was also expected to include a discussion of Trump's continued efforts to develop a Middle East peace plan.

"With no foreign-policy adults in the White House--and an inexperienced and unconfirmed secretary of state in Mike Pompeo--one can expect little substantive foreign policy exchange during MBS' visit. The only winners will be those who conclude back-room business deals with the extended Trump clan and their cronies and with the US arms industry", says Moosa.

MBS has come to stockpile his country against his self-created regional monsters and to invest the monies he recently confiscated from his country's business elite--even as oil fortunes and futures dwindle. It is time for a sober assessment of whether Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally or a millstone around the U.S.'s neck, he said.