Must Watch Moments: Trump Declares Saudi Arabia ‘Major Non-NATO Ally’ at White House Dinner for MBS

APT

U.S. President Donald Trump hosted a black-tie White House dinner for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, joined by global stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Elon Musk. The event highlighted deepening U.S.–Saudi ties, with Trump announcing that the United States will designate Saudi Arabia as a “major non-NATO ally.”  Other guests included FIFA President Gianni Infantino, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump Jr.  Watch all the moments from this high-profile diplomatic evening.  #Trump #MBS #CristianoRonaldo #ElonMusk #WhiteHouse

Transcript

00:01The President.

00:02The President.

00:03Well, thank you very much, everybody.

00:05What an honor.

00:07Well, this is a very special occasion.

00:12And it is indeed my honor to welcome to the White House a

00:17great friend and a man of leadership, vision, courage,

00:21and strength, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

00:26of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

00:30And we had a big day today.

00:32A very big day for both countries.

00:35We've gotten to know each other well over the years,

00:38and he has become a true partner for peace and prosperity

00:41for our countries and for the world

00:44and for peace in the Middle East,

00:46which was a crowning achievement for both of us.

00:49And I just want to say that, Crown Prince Mohammed,

00:54we're delighted to have you with us at the White House.

00:57Very special.

00:58Very, very special.

01:05I'd like to also express my gratitude to our wonderful First Lady

01:09for organizing this beautiful evening.

01:12She worked hard on it.

01:13Thank you very much, Melania.

01:15And we're pleased to be joined as well by Vice President J.D. Vance

01:24and his magnificent wife, Usha.

01:27Thank you, J.D.

01:32Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and his wife, Kelly.

01:35Thank you, Mike, wherever you may be.

01:39Thank you, Kelly.

01:40Thank you, Kelly.

01:42Princess Rima.

01:43Thank you, Princess Rima.

01:44Such an incredible representative of your country.

01:51And you really are.

01:52We really appreciate it.

01:53Great job you do.

01:55And members of the Saudi delegation,

01:58we want to thank you very much for being with us.

02:01We spent a lot of time with you today in the Cabinet.

02:03You're extremely good negotiators, that I can tell you.

02:06So I want to thank you.

02:07And we have so many other unbelievable dignitaries.

02:11I won't talk too much about you, because we'll be here all night.

02:14This room is loaded up with the biggest leaders in the world.

02:18Business, sports.

02:19You know, my son is a big fan of Ronaldo,

02:22wherever Ronaldo is here.

02:25We're Ronaldo.

02:30And Barron got to meet him.

02:31And I think he respects his father a little bit more now.

02:34Just the fact that I introduced you.

02:36So I just want to thank you both for being here.

02:38Thank you very much.

02:39Really an honor.

02:40But I want to thank everybody, because you do.

02:43You have the biggest business leaders in the world.

02:46You have the biggest leaders politically anywhere in the world.

02:49And I think it's a group that maybe, to this extent,

02:52has never come together quite like this.

02:55I only wish we had about 2,000 more seats.

02:58We would have filled every one of them two times over.

03:01But very soon, you'll be having that.

03:04And we'll have to do another one in about 2 years from now.

03:07But we really do.

03:09We appreciate it very much.

03:10It's a special privilege to welcome His Royal Highness to Washington this year,

03:15as we mark the 80th anniversary of the first meeting

03:18between U.S. President and a Saudi king.

03:22Eight decades ago, in 1945, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with the crown prince's own grandfather,

03:30the founder of the Saudi Arabian incredible country.

03:35And that was King Abdul Aziz on the deck of the U.S. Navy cruiser.

03:41And a beautiful one at that.

03:43And it's become known for that meeting all over the world.

03:47The two became immediate and warm friends.

03:49And, in fact, when we were walking down the presidential walk of fame today,

03:54I said, so which one other than Trump, of course,

03:57because Trump absolutely is number one in this category,

04:00meaning friend to Saudi Arabia.

04:02I said, which is the greatest of the president's friends of Saudi Arabia?

04:06And I think you said, very truly, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

04:11Now, he's a Democrat, so I don't know.

04:14But I understood it, and it's true.

04:16He was a great friend.

04:17And right now, you have the best friend you've ever had.

04:19But ever since, our countries have been enduring partners.

04:23And together, this evening, we're making that partnership closer and stronger than ever before.

04:28And we've never had the relationship, our countries like this.

04:32We had four great years.

04:33But things happened today, and documents were signed.

04:37And we went through a lot during the first nine months.

04:41And we have a very different Middle East than we had when I first came into office.

04:45Like, I would say, day and night.

04:48As I saw during my wonderful visit to the Kingdom in May,

04:52with the Crown Prince's help, Saudi Arabia has made extraordinary strides

04:56and grown into an economic engine and really a modern-day miracle,

05:01an amazing transformation and all for the good.

05:05This opening up of the new avenues of cooperation between the United States and Saudi Arabia

05:12is really unprecedented.

05:13And on that trip, Saudi Arabia announced that it will invest an incredible $600 billion.

05:19That means jobs.

05:20That means jobs.

05:21That means jobs.

05:22It's also good for your companies, but I'm only interested in the jobs for your company.

05:26I'm not interested in the profits, but I guess the profits are there, too.

05:29But $600 billion in the United States.

05:32And today, I said, any way you can up that?

05:36And he said, I am going to up that to $1 trillion.

05:39So he's investing $1 trillion into the United States.

05:47And when I was in Saudi Arabia, he looked at me, and I've used his name all over the place

05:52because he was the first to say it, but a lot of people have said it after.

05:55He said, you know, one year ago, we thought your country was dead.

06:00And now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world.

06:04We are the hottest country anywhere in the world right now.

06:06So I want to thank you for giving me one of the most effective lines that I have.

06:11And I quote you, and I quote some others, but I always put you up at top.

06:15But many people have said that.

06:16This week, we're also signing exciting agreements on civil nuclear energy,

06:21critical minerals, and artificial intelligence, numbers that nobody's ever heard of before.

06:26And, Jensen, I want to thank you.

06:28You had a great meeting of NVIDIA, wherever you may be.

06:31And I want to thank Tim Cook and Apple for all of the money that you're investing in the United States.

06:37They're both investing $600 billion.

06:39And we have numerous other country companies in the room that are likewise investing large sums

06:46because they believe in what we are doing and what's taking place, this miracle that's taking place in the USA.

06:52Together, these will come together.

06:57We're going to have support.

06:58The many thousands of American jobs that have been created and help solidify the USA and the world leader.

07:05We're really now, by far, the world leader in technology.

07:08And nobody even questions it.

07:09Advanced manufacturing and other vital industries.

07:13They were saying two, three years ago when the country was really losing business, not gaining business,

07:19that we'll never be manufacturers again, we'll never be doing any of these businesses again,

07:23that are coming back to us in record numbers.

07:26AI plants, but maybe even most importantly, in a sense, the auto plants.

07:31They're all pouring back into the United States.

07:34And I have to say, because of tariffs, I'll also say because of November 5th, the election.

07:39But because of the tariffs, they're coming back.

07:43We have the head of Ford.

07:44We have the head of General Motors in the room.

07:46And their stock has gone through the roof because what I did with tariffs last week on certain kinds of vehicles.

07:54I won't get into it.

07:55It's called mid-sized trucks and large trucks.

07:58So I wanted to get into it because their stock went through the roof.

08:02And they were very happy.

08:04They did not really a hell of a lot of work.

08:07They gave it to them at their request.

08:09And for that, they get a big fat salary.

08:11But more importantly, they create jobs all over the country.

08:14It's been amazing.

08:15And the business you've gotten in the mid-sized and the large trucks,

08:18because of what we did with tariffs, is incredible.

08:21It's incredible.

08:22So I congratulate both companies.

08:24And thank you both for being here very much.

08:26And as we announced in May, Saudi Arabia is also making an enormous commitment

08:30to building up its own defense capabilities with the largest arms purchase in history,

08:35nearly $142 billion worth of American military equipment and services.

08:40And as I've said many times, and we've demonstrated just a short while ago, but quite a bit,

08:48we make the best military equipment in the world by far.

08:51We make the best jets, the best missiles.

08:53We make the best military equipment in the world.

08:56There's nothing even close.

08:58But this will mark and make both of our nations safer and cement the kingdom's role

09:04as a key force for stability and security in the Middle East.

09:08And they are, I think right now, I can say, with what we did with our beautiful B-2 bombers

09:13going in and obliterating a very serious nuclear threat,

09:19which would have taken place in about a month from that date,

09:23they were ready to go.

09:24They're not ready to go anymore.

09:26They'd like very much to make a deal with us.

09:27And they call us, and we'll end up probably doing that.

09:30That's Iran.

09:31But when you really think about it, Your Majesty,

09:35I think that this is the best in terms of safety.

09:39Saudi Arabia has never been as safe as it is right now.

09:42You always had a little cloud over your head,

09:44and sometimes that cloud was very big.

09:46That cloud is not there anymore, and we want to keep it that way.

09:49So that's why, tonight, I'm pleased to announce

09:51that we're taking our military cooperation to even greater heights

09:55by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally,

10:01which is something that is very important to them.

10:05And I'm just telling you now for the first time,

10:07because I wanted to keep a little secret for tonight.

10:10I just heard him say,

10:11Oh, that's nice.

10:13That's another point you won today.

10:15But, and signing a historic strategic defense agreement,

10:19which we just signed a little while ago.

10:21So, congratulations.

10:22A stronger and more capable alliance will advance the interests of both countries,

10:33and it will serve the highest interest of peace.

10:36And we all share in peace, and we've never had

10:39and been so close to truly everlasting peace in the Middle East.

10:43All my life, I've heard, Oh, peace in the Middle East,

10:46but it'll never happen.

10:47We did it.

10:48Now we have to make sure it matures properly

10:50and is really as strong as we think it can be.

10:52But we've gotten all good signals.

10:54I want to just thank you for all the help, too.

10:57I want to thank the Crown Prince for the role he played

11:00in the transformational peace deal that was achieved last month,

11:05and so many of the other things that happened to end the war in Gaza.

11:10Gaza, while it looks a little bit messy,

11:13it has for many, many years.

11:15I will tell you, many decades.

11:17But it's getting very close to being perfected,

11:21and people are shocked.

11:22And even the great experts that have gone around criticizing badly

11:26every country and every president and everything,

11:29they're all saying that what's taking place in the Middle East is a miracle.

11:32They're just calling it a miracle, and we're going to make it a miracle,

11:35and we're very close to doing that.

11:37But as you know, all of the living hostages were returned to their families.

11:43We got all 20, 20 out of 20.

11:45And likewise, this sounds terrible, but the parents of the dead people,

11:53young men, mostly young men, almost all young men,

11:57they wanted those bodies back as much as the parents of the living.

12:02The parents of the living would do anything to get their boy back,

12:07and they got him back.

12:08And the parents of the dead wanted them just as much.

12:12It almost seemed as though they wanted them more.

12:15And today, through the efforts of Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner

12:19and Marco Rubio and everybody, everybody worked together.

12:23We worked so hard together.

12:25Two more bodies were brought back and were up to almost the full count.

12:30I think we're too short right now.

12:32And a lot of work has been done by Hamas.

12:36And a lot of people said they wouldn't be doing that,

12:39but they did do it.

12:40And the bodies have been delivered to the families,

12:44to the mothers, to the fathers.

12:46And at least they can be in peace.

12:49It's amazing.

12:50It was a miserable period of time.

12:52We have two more to go, and I think we'll be getting them also.

12:56Not easy.

12:57That was not easy.

12:58Not an easy situation.

12:59I've met with many of those parents, and what a time.

13:02What a time they've had.

13:04But we also want to thank all of the people living in Gaza,

13:08the residents of Gaza.

13:10And they've, as you know, begun to move back to their homes.

13:14And a lot more safety, they said today,

13:16a lot more safety than they've ever had before.

13:19It was a rough neighborhood, to put it mildly.

13:23And a lot of progress has been made with respect to Gaza

13:26and just about everything else we touch.

13:28Just yesterday, the United Nations Security Council

13:31formally adopted my peace plan

13:34and officially endorsed the Board of Peace.

13:37This is a board like no other.

13:39It will have the heads of major countries.

13:42I think all of the major countries.

13:44I hope, Your Highness, will be on the board.

13:46You'll accept, I hope.

13:47But the Board of Peace will be something

13:49that's never even been thought of before.

13:51And it's covering Gaza,

13:53but it'll end up covering large portions of the world.

13:56And I was honored to be chosen the chair of that Board of Peace.

14:01And I think you'll see something that nobody's ever seen before

14:04in terms of the status of the board.

14:06There will never be a board like the board

14:08that we're going to be announcing.

14:10Everybody wants to be on the board.

14:13And it'll end up being quite a large board

14:17because it'll be the heads of every major country.

14:20And the United Nations passed it.

14:23I guess unanimously you can say China, which was against it,

14:28took a pass, didn't vote against it.

14:31And Russia, which was against it, didn't vote against it.

14:34So we appreciate it because one negative vote and it doesn't happen.

14:38So people were shocked to see that it was approved.

14:43And that was a great honor.

14:45It's a great honor for me, I will tell you.

14:47I think it's something like nobody's ever even imagined.

14:51So it's called the Board of Peace.

14:53And watch for it because it's going to do some fantastic things.

14:57And I know we're both deeply committed to an enduring ceasefire.

15:00It grows into the beautiful, lasting peace.

15:03And we've got things going at numbers and far ahead of schedule

15:07that nobody thought was possible.

15:09So, Your Royal Highness, just as my predecessors

15:13and so many of the people that you know and love from a long time ago,

15:17they bonded with the U.S. and Saudi relationship,

15:21which was forged 80 years ago.

15:24You and I are strengthening and renewing the alliance,

15:27I believe to levels that were far greater than what they had

15:30even 80 years ago, frankly.

15:32And we pray that we will be celebrated by our own descendants

15:36some days for this incredible relationship

15:39that's been built between the United States of America

15:41and Saudi Arabia.

15:42Someday they maybe will talk about us as being two wonderful men.

15:46Forget about great.

15:47Wonderful is okay.

15:48But two wonderful men that did tremendous work for their countries.

15:52And that bond is very important.

15:54Our friendship and blessings to America,

15:58to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to the world

16:01stand out and will always stand out to me.

16:04So, I look forward to working with you.

16:06And we'll be here for three and a quarter years.

16:09For the Trump, that's like an eternity.

16:12You know?

16:13For somebody else, that doesn't sound long.

16:15But we love doing it.

16:17We love, you know, we have an expression,

16:19Make America Great Again.

16:20And that's what we're doing beyond what anyone even thought possible.

16:23So, I just want to thank you for being a very big part of it.

16:26And I want to thank you for a $1 trillion investment

16:30and contribution toward our country.

16:32That's a lot of jobs.

16:33Thank you very much.

16:35Please.

16:36Thank you, Mr. President.

16:41Well, it's too hard to speak after Mr. President.

16:48No one speak better than him.

16:50But first of all, I will start with thank you, Mr. President,

16:53for the warm and great welcome that we have today.

16:56We feel home.

16:57And this relation started around close to nine decades ago

17:01with Roosevelt and King Abdulaziz,

17:04who established the modern Saudi Arabia.

17:06Also, I've known that America is almost celebrating 250 years

17:11of establishment.

17:12And also, in two years, we will celebrate in Saudi Arabia

17:15300 years of establishing Saudi Arabia.

17:18We've been, since the last nine decades,

17:20working together in many areas.

17:22During the World War II, we was a major supplier for oil

17:26during the Cold War, countering extremism, tourism.

17:29But during that time, we've been also working

17:31on a lot of economical opportunities.

17:33But today, it's a special day.

17:35We think the horizon of the economic cooperation

17:37between Saudi Arabia and the South America,

17:39it's bigger and wider in many areas.

17:42We've been signing a lot of agreement

17:43that's going to open the door to develop the relation deeper

17:46in many areas, and we're going to work on it.

17:49We believe the opportunity is huge.

17:51So we're going to focus on implementation

17:53and keep increasing the opportunities

17:54between our both countries.

17:56So thank you again, Mr. President.

17:58Thank you very much.

17:59And also, before I come here, someone told me

18:01that there is some of the bidding sites,

18:04that they are bidding on me wearing black suits,

18:07and if you bid on me wearing black suits,

18:09and coming here with the black suits,

18:10they're going to get almost 17 X.

18:12So I want to tell them, sorry, you lose the bid.

18:14Maybe next time.

18:17So thank you, Mr. President.

18:19Thank you very much.

18:20Thank you very much.

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