US President Donald Trump (L) speaks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C) as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (R), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd R) and Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May smile during a family photo session at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. (Photo by KIM KYUNG-HOON / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIM KYUNG-HOON/AFP via Getty Images)
Kim Kyung-hoon | Afp | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday touted Saudi Arabia’s pledge to invest $600 billion in America in the next four years, while suggesting the figure should actually be higher.
“It’s also reported today in the papers that Saudi Arabia will be investing at least $600 billion in America,” Trump told an audience at Davos via video call, while mentioning major announcements of investment plans by foreign companies into the country.
“But I’ll be asking the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around 1 trillion. I think they’ll do that, because we’ve been very good to them,” he said, referring to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia’s state media outlet, the Saudi Press Agency, on Thursday published details of a call between the Crown Prince and Trump, during which the Saudi de-facto leader congratulated his American counterpart on his inauguration and the two discussed bilateral relations.
Bin Salman told Trump that he expected the incoming administration’s planned reforms “to create unprecedented economic prosperity” and that “the kingdom seeks to benefit from its available opportunities for partnership and investment,” according to a Google translation of the report.
The Crown Prince expressed “the kingdom’s desire to expand its investments and trade relations with the United States in the next four years by an amount of $600 billion, expected to increase if additional opportunities become available,” the Saudi report said.
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