00:00 Julia
Some of the biggest names in corporate America descended on the White House for the Saudi Crown Prince’s visit. Notably, Elon Musk was in attendance for the state dinner last night with President Trump and Mohammed bin Salman. The appearance marked Musk’s first time at the White House since their public feud earlier this year. But it wasn’t just him. Everyone from Nvidia CEO Jensen Wong to Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff were in attendance. Even football star Cristiano Ronaldo was there. The Salesforce CEO acted as an unofficial photographer at the event. He posted a series of pictures that you’re seeing here that he posted on social media from the White House. Let’s get more on the takeaways from the Saudi Crown Prince’s visit so far with Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schoenberger and it’s still going on by the way. Many of these CEOs are still in DC. There’s a forum going on right now and many of them are speaking, Jen.
01:05 Jennifer Schoenberger
Good morning, Julia. That’s right. a lot of executives in attendance there at that black tie dinner last night at the White House for the Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, where President Trump revealed that the US has inked deals on both defense and the economy with the Saudis and also revealed that Saudi Arabia is now going to be going to be designated as a major non- NATO ally.
01:42 Donald Trump
That’s why tonight, I’m pleased to announce that we are 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.
02:11 Jennifer Schoenberger
underscoring that Saudi Arabia is now going to be designated as a major non- NATO ally. The US inked a defense deal with the kingdom with future sales of F-35 fighter jets. These are going to be top of the line fighter jets similar to what we give to Israel or sell to Israel. Also on tap as part of that deal, a sale of 300 uh American tanks to Saudi Arabia as well. Now, on the economic side, the US and the Saudis also formalized that Saudi Arabia is going to increase their investment in the United States by one up to $1 trillion dollars. That’s up from previously 600 billion. Both sides expected to talk in the coming weeks about trade and specifically reducing non-tariff barriers.
03:14 Jennifer Schoenberger
Now, they also signed a multi-billion dollar nuclear energy partnership as well as a critical minerals framework to help diversify supply chains for critical minerals. As well, both sides signed a what is being billed as an AI memorandum of understanding that will give the Saudi Kingdom access to US technology while still protecting against foreign influence.
03:42 Jennifer Schoenberger
Now, the president expected to head shortly to the Kennedy Senator for the US-Saudi business forum, where we expect many executives there as well. A senior White House official telling me moments ago that the president is going to speak about how America is the best place on earth to do business. He’s going to tout how he’s been trying to work to rebuild our economy, securing investments to create jobs and help bring down inflation.
04:06 Jennifer Schoenberger
Julie.
04:07 Julia
We shall see. Jennifer Seanberger, thank you. Appreciate it.