“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump told the journalist. Trump keeps a copy of FIFA’s golden trophy in the Oval Office, loaned by Infantino, and is set to attend the World Cup draw on 5 December at Washington’s Kennedy Center. Saudi Arabia secured the hosting rights for the 2034 World Cup through a bidding process that critics described as a fast-track process that eliminated rival candidates. Trump announced hundreds of billions in new Saudi investment commitments to the United States, though specific details were not disclosed.
The dinner comes as Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its economy through its Vision 2030 reform programme while maintaining strategic partnerships. At the dinner Tuesday night, Trump announced he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, a largely symbolic move that provides foreign partners with some defence, trade and security cooperation benefits. Bin Salman, meanwhile, became an international pariah after the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a fierce critic of his government, in 2018. Trump defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded that the crown prince himself ordered the killing.
