US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday (local time) that he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally while hosting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a gala dinner at the White House.
Bloomberg said the designation, given to countries with close strategic ties to the U.S., provides funding and priority access to purchase certain military equipment, along with the ability to engage in joint research initiatives.
According to AFP, Trump said: “Tonight I am pleased to announce that we are taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is very important to them.”
Trump said of the designation, “And I’m telling you this for the first time because they wanted to keep it a little secret for tonight,” noting that only 19 other countries had previously received it.
Which countries are designated as MNNA?
Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia are designated as MNNA.
Saudi Arabia will become the 20th country to receive this status.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, MBS, attended Tuesday night’s event alongside prominent executives and celebrities, including Elon Musk and soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo. Apple CEO Tim Cook and FIFA President Gianni Infantino were also present. Other notable guests, such as Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and investor Bill Ackman, were served rack of lamb at long tables decorated with candles and flowers.
Trump earlier showered MBS with praise during a lavish Oval Office welcome, calling the prince “a very good friend of mine” and absolving him of responsibility for the 2018 murder of The Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Key agreements between the US and Saudi Arabia
The two leaders agreed on a broadly worded defense cooperation pact that includes the potential future sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, while the US pledged to formalize negotiations on assistance with the Saudi civilian nuclear program.
The White House visit and related deals, including a vague Saudi pledge to increase investment in the U.S. from $600 billion to $1 trillion, represent significant wins for the crown prince. Until recently, Khashoggi’s murder had shunned him by many longtime Western allies, including briefly Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump and MBS have maintained a warm relationship since the early years of Trump’s first term, and the next phase of their relationship could affect the geopolitical balance in the Middle East. But key agreements still need to be reached on issues such as the normalization of Saudi-Israeli relations, a long-standing US goal that has been stalled by Israel’s two-year war with Hamas in Gaza.
Trump said the US and Saudi Arabia had reached an agreement on artificial intelligence after tense negotiations over the kingdom’s request for access to advanced chips. While no formal announcement was made on Tuesday, sources familiar with the matter said the US had agreed to approve the supply of the technology to Saudi firm Humain.
(With input from agencies)
