President Trump on Tuesday announced that the US will designate Saudi Arabia as a “major non-NATO ally” during his remarks at a black-tie dinner in honor of the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We’re taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them,” Trump said, noting that the designation came shortly after he and bin Salman signed “a historic strategic defense agreement.”
“I’m just telling you now for the first time, because I wanted to keep a little secret for tonight,” Trump told the crown prince from the stage. “I just heard him say, ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ That’s another point you won today.”
Saudi Arabia will become the 20th nation to hold major non-NATO ally status, according to the State Department.
Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand and Tunisia have previously been designated as such. Taiwan is also treated as a major non-NATO ally but does not formally hold the title.
Major non-NATO ally status is viewed as a powerful symbol of the strength of the relationship between the US and a foreign partner.
It provides the designee with military and economic privileges, including eligibility to purchase “depleted uranium ammunition,” obtain certain military supply loans and engage in “cooperative research and development projects on defense equipment and munitions,” according to the State Department.
The designation also allows the US to stockpile warfighting equipment in the country outside a US military facility.
Meanwhile, the defense agreement brokered by Trump and bin Salman “reinforc[es] America’s role as a regional security enabler, enhancing our US military partnerships to better allow partners to deter and defeat threats,” the White House said in a statement.
“The SDA is a win for the America First agenda, making it easier for US defense firms to operate in Saudi Arabia, securing new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray US costs, and affirming that the Kingdom views the United States as its primary strategic partner,” the White House said.
Trump also secured an agreement for Saudi Arabia to buy nearly 300 American military tanks, “enabling Saudi Arabia to build up its own defense capabilities and safeguarding hundreds of American jobs,” according to the White House statement.
Trump thanked the crown prince for “the role he played in the transformational peace deal that was achieved last month and so many of the other things that happened to end the war in Gaza.”
“Gaza, while it looks a little bit messy — it has for many, many years, I will tell you, many decades — but it’s getting very close to being perfected, and people are shocked,” Trump said. “And even the great experts that have gone around criticizing badly every country and every president and everything, they’re all saying that what’s taking place in the Middle East is a miracle.”
Bin Salman was greeted at the White House with a six-plane military flyover and an Army mounted honor guard with black horses bearing American and Saudi flags.
Trump said he and the prince are “really good friends” during the visit.
Former DOGE chief Elon Musk, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller, first son Donald Trump Jr., FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Fox News anchor Bret Baier were among the dignitaries at the White House dinner for bin Salman.
