Saudi Prince to visit Trump to strengthen their bonds

Finally, the meeting between the Saudi Arabia Crown Prince and the American President Donald Trump is to take place.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump will host Saudi Crown Prince, and publically denounce Iran and a chance to take stock of significant changes the prince is engineering in the Kingdom, in front of a wide audience.

The 71-year-old president and the 32-year old prince are expected to strengthen their strong bond 10 months after their last meeting in Riyadh.

READ ALSO: Saudi Arabia ready to launch high-speed ‘Hamarain Express’

But they are also expected to take up major developments for Saudi Arabia, both internally and externally: the end of a ban on Saudi women driving, the unprecedented detention of dozens of people that was billed as a high-level anti-corruption purge, Saudi involvement in the war in Yemen, and the crisis with the Gulf state of Qatar.

“It’s jaw-dropping how many policy changes the Saudis have pursued at home and in the region since that last meeting,” said Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a former CIA analyst now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Many of these changes have touched US security interests.”

One such change that caught the United Nations eye is the summit that the administration had hoped to host this year with the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which could be difficult to arrange given the continuing crisis with Qatar.

In June, Saudi Arabia and the UAE began an air and sea boycott against Qatar, which they accuse of financing terrorism and being overly friendly with Iran.

READ ALSO: Is it safe for Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un to meet?

Prince Mohammed was named crown prince that month by his father, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are historic allies. Ever since Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with King Abdul Aziz bin Saud on a US naval ship in the Suez Canal in 1945, every American president has carefully nurtured relations with the Saudi royal family.

But the unstinting support Trump offered when he chose Riyadh as the destination of his first overseas trip as president brought the relationship to a new level.