对于沙特阿拉伯来说，这次访问几乎无可挑剔。沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼于11月18日访问美国，受到了特朗普总统极为盛大的欢迎，包括军事飞行表演和白宫晚宴。两国签署了投资、武器销售和核能合作协议。特朗普称沙特为“主要非北约盟友”。尽管表面上美沙关系重获坚实基础，但大多数协议具体细节尚未敲定。例如，沙特承诺在美国投资近1万亿美元，高于今年5月承诺的6000亿美元数额，而这一投资规模已超过沙特主权财富基金的总额。此外，核合作协议只是意向，尚未签署关键性的“123协议”。

核协议最终必须获得美国国会批准。许多议员要求沙特仿效阿联酋，放弃铀浓缩以换取核协议，但沙特坚持希望拥有相关能力。美国方面提出折衷方案，即允许在美国境内建造沙特拥有的浓缩设施。与此同时，F-35战斗机的销售预计需数年才能交付，国会仍对其对以色列军事优势的影响表示担忧。即便批准交付，首批F-35预计要到十年末才能投入沙特使用。

近年来，沙特调整外交政策，更加务实，主动向美方提供关键矿产资源以参与大国竞争。在吉达会议上，美国官员曾拿出元素周期表，询问沙特可供应哪些矿产。尽管沙特与以色列关系改善讨论因2023年加沙战争而搁置，沙特仍坚持只有实现建立巴勒斯坦国的明确路径才会实现关系正常化。现阶段，沙特利用与以色列的关系作为谈判筹码，不急于达成协议，并持续深化与美国的经济、战略合作，无需再依赖是否承认以色列来维系与美国的关系。

For Saudi Arabia, the visit could scarcely have gone better. On November 18th, Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman was received with maximum ceremony by President Trump, including a military fly-past and a White House dinner. The two countries signed investment, arms sale, and nuclear cooperation deals. Trump called Saudi Arabia a “major non-NATO ally”. While U.S.-Saudi relations appeared restored, the deals lacked specifics. For example, Saudi Arabia promised to invest nearly $1 trillion in America, up from $600 billion pledged in May—an amount greater than its entire sovereign wealth fund. The nuclear deal is still only a framework, with the crucial “123 agreement” yet to be signed.

The final nuclear pact must be approved by the U.S. Congress. Many lawmakers demand Saudi Arabia emulate the UAE and forgo uranium enrichment, but Saudi Arabia is determined to retain this capability. One U.S. compromise is to build a Saudi-owned enrichment facility in America. Separately, F-35 jet sales could take years, and delivery is unlikely before the end of the decade, with Congress concerned about implications for Israel’s military advantage.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has shifted to a more pragmatic foreign policy, offering the U.S. access to critical minerals amid great power competition. In Jeddah, a U.S. official even used the periodic table to assess Saudi mineral offerings. Although Saudi-Israeli normalization is stalled due to the 2023 Gaza war, Saudi Arabia insists on a credible path to a Palestinian state as a precondition. For now, Saudi Arabia is leveraging its stance on Israel for negotiations, not rushing to a deal, and steadily deepening its broader economic and strategic cooperation with the U.S. regardless of formal recognition of Israel.