Saudi Arabia is going on an American shopping spree, and we're talking serious money. The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it's finalized a series of agreements with Riyadh that include selling nearly 300 tanks to the kingdom and, perhaps more importantly, securing a pledge to nearly double Saudi investments in the United States.
Tanks, Jets, and a Trillion-Dollar Handshake
The White House revealed that discussions between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman produced some eye-popping numbers. The crown prince committed to increasing Saudi investments in the US from $600 billion to a full $1 trillion. That's not pocket change, even by oil kingdom standards.
The tank deal itself will allow Saudi Arabia to strengthen its defense capabilities while creating hundreds of American jobs in the process. It's the kind of arrangement that lets both sides claim a win—Saudi Arabia gets military hardware, and the US gets manufacturing jobs and a deepening relationship with one of the Middle East's most influential players.
F-35s Enter the Conversation
President Trump also approved a significant defense sale package that includes future deliveries of Lockheed Martin (LMT) F-35 aircraft. The F-35 is essentially the crown jewel of American military aviation technology, so this isn't a small matter.
Naturally, Israel's potential reaction came up. Trump addressed it head-on, saying both Israel and Saudi Arabia are great US allies. "I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line," the president said.
Israeli officials, for their part, have indicated they wouldn't object to Saudi Arabia receiving F-35s—but there's a catch. They'd want Riyadh to normalize relations with Israel under the Abraham Accords framework, according to reporting from Associated Press. That's a pretty significant piece of diplomatic chess being played alongside these defense deals.
Beyond Defense: Tech, AI, and Healthcare
A major US-Saudi investment forum is scheduled for Wednesday in Washington, D.C., and the guest list reads like a who's who of American corporate power. Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, and top executives from General Dynamics (GD), Pfizer (PFE), and other major corporations are all attending.
The forum will cover artificial intelligence, energy, technology, aerospace, healthcare, and finance—basically all the sectors where the US and Saudi Arabia see opportunities for collaboration. It reflects how the relationship between these two nations extends well beyond oil and defense into cutting-edge technology and medical innovation.
In an interesting subplot, Elon Musk returned to the White House for the first time since his public fallout with Trump, attending a dinner the president hosted for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Nothing says "water under the bridge" quite like breaking bread at a state dinner.
The Bigger Picture
What we're watching is the deepening of economic and defense ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia at a scale that could reshape regional dynamics. The tank deal and rising investment commitments signal a partnership that goes beyond transactional arms sales into something more strategic and long-term.
For American defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, this represents sustained business and jobs. For Saudi Arabia, it's about diversifying relationships and securing advanced military capabilities. And for the broader geopolitical landscape, it's another data point in understanding how alliances and influence are being reconfigured in real time.
The trillion-dollar investment pledge, if it materializes as promised, would represent a substantial flow of capital into American businesses and infrastructure. Whether we're talking about defense manufacturing, AI development, or healthcare innovation, that kind of money creates ripple effects across multiple industries.