Trump's meeting with the Saudi crown prince was strained by Riyadh's conditions for moving toward normalization with Israel

The Nov. 18 private meeting between President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) became tense when the president made a strong case for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, two U.S. officials and another source with knowledge of the meeting told Axios. While the two were cordial in public, behind closed doors, the conversation turned awkward, and Trump ended up disappointed by MBS's response.

Why that goal mattered

With the end of the war in Gaza, Trump had hoped the meeting would lead to progress toward normalization between Riyadh and Jerusalem, a stated White House priority in the context of expanding the Abraham Accords. White House officials had let the prince know before the meeting that the president awaited progress on that front.

What happened in private

According to sources consulted, Trump was the one who introduced and pressed for normalization during the meeting. In the conversation, MBS replied that, while he wants to move forward on that path, he cannot do so now because of strong opposition from Saudi public opinion following the war in Gaza; that society, MBS said, "isn't ready" for such a step at this time. The sources indicate that MBS further raised as a condition that Israel accept "an irreversible, credible and time-bound path" to a Palestinian state, a requirement the Israeli government rejects.