event

Trump and MBS: What’s in Store for U.S.-Saudi Relations? 

Mon. November 17th, 202510:00 AM - 10:45 AM (EST)
Live Online

Perhaps no country in the Middle East has attracted more interest of the Trump administration than Saudi Arabia. President Trump took his first foreign trip there during his first term and he remains focused on the possibility of Israeli-Saudi normalization as part of a regional peace agreement in pursuit of a Nobel Peace prize. The visit of Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman (MBS) to the White House on November 18 has focused even more attention on the U.S.-Saudi relationship.

What are realistic expectations for the visit? What are the upsides, and down, of a reportedly discussed U.S.-Saudi defense pact? And what is Saudi Arabia prepared to do to facilitate the president’s plan for Gaza and to tackle the broader challenge of regional peace? Join Aaron David Miller as he engages Michael Ratney, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and Bernard Haykel, a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, on the MBS visit to Washington and the road ahead for U.S.-Saudi relations on the next Carnegie Connects. 

Foreign PolicyMiddle EastSaudi Arabia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Aaron David Miller

Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program

Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy.

Michael Ratney

Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

Michael Ratney served for over three decades as a distinguished U.S. diplomat, most recently as the U.S. ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Ratney served as the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, as the chargé d’affaires of the U.S. embassy to Israel, as well as postings in Baghdad, Beirut, Casablanca, Doha, Mexico City, Tunis, Bridgetown, and Washington. D.C.

Bernard Haykel

Professor of Near Eastern History of the Gulf Cooperation Countries, Princeton University

Bernard Haykel is a scholar of the Arabian Peninsula, focusing on the politics, economics and history of the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) and Yemen. He is professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, where he teaches courses on energy, history, and politics. He earned his doctorate in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford and is now preparing a book on the modern history of Saudi Arabia.