Photos (from left) by Nathan Howard/Pool via AP ; Allison Robbert/Pool via AP File; Sean Simmers/The Patriot-News via AP

Voices & Opinion

POV: How Trump’s Relationships with Saudi Arabia and Elon Musk Will Shape Foreign Policy

The US is entering a new era of personalized foreign policy, but diplomacy is supposed to be about national interests, not the personal fiefdoms of our political leaders

Donald Trump won a remarkable victory earlier this month, but there are two aspects of his likely foreign policy in his new term that will be unprecedented for any American president: his relationships with the government of Saudi Arabia and with Elon Musk.

Never has a US president’s own business interests been so closely tied to a foreign government—Saudi Arabia—and Saudi companies.

Never has a US president taken as a key advisor a business leader—Elon Musk—who is prominent in so many key sectors that affect US national security: big tech, space, EVs, and artificial intelligence. Musk also has developed significant international manufacturing interests in China, close relations with Vladimir Putin, and has talked of building a Tesla plant in Mexico. His PAC reportedly gave more than $120 million to Trump’s presidential campaign.

Trump’s courting of Saudi Arabia has intensified since 2017 when the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was the first foreign leader he visited as president. In March of that year, he signed an arms deal with Saudi Arabia worth over $300 billion. Since then, Trump, his sons Don, Jr., and Eric, and son-in-law Jared Kushner have developed deals with LIV Golf and Trump Towers in Dubai and Jeddah, and a major Trump golf, condo, and luxury hotel complex is being funded in Oman by Saudi DarGlobal. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has invested $2 billion in Kushner’s Affinity Partners. The millions of dollars paid by LIV Golf—owned by PIF—to Trump’s golf courses alone will be a clear breach of the emoluments clause of the US Constitution when he takes office in January. The clause states that “no person holding a position of trust or profit in the United States can accept any gift title, office or emolument from a foreign state…” 

The Biden administration is currently negotiating the terms of a new defense pact with bin Salman, who will now likely realize he can probably get a better deal from Trump. But Trump will want the Saudis to sign an Abraham Accord with Israel, recognizing the state of Israel and opening full diplomatic relations. Bin Salman has broken with Trump over the Palestine issue, insisting that any peace deal with Israel must involve recognition of a Palestinian state—a condition Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t like. The previous Abraham Accords under Trump emboldened Iran because they showed Arab states effectively abandoning the Palestine cause. Bin Salman now knows he can influence Trump by playing the business card to affect Trump’s family interests. 

As for Musk, the early signals are clear. He was directly involved earlier this month in conversations with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on delicate matters of support for Ukraine in the war with Putin. Musk already has some security clearance, but do US intelligence officials know anything about the nature of his conversations with world leaders? Musk knows Putin and Chinese leaders well. Will he now have access to everything the president does? The Wall Street Journal has already reported Musk is in frequent contact with Putin, who has requested favors from Musk for China, asking him not to deploy his SpaceX satellite internet service in Taiwan. That is probably not the only favor Putin will be asking of Trump’s new advisor. Musk admires Putin who, he says, is the world’s real richest man. And US relations with China now have a new consideration: if Trump imposes tariffs of 60 percent on Chinese EVs and solar panels, the Chinese government may well retaliate against Musk’s plant in China. His Gigafactory Shanghai is Tesla’s largest manufacturing hub and its main export center. 

Diplomacy makes its own rules and is supposed to be about national interests, not the personal fiefdoms of our political leaders. But wealth is a common ingredient of Putin, bin Salman, and Musk. It is interesting to note that Saudi Arabia is now a major investor in Musk’s X. 

Of course, the Trump Organization does business in many other countries. There are more Trump Towers in India than in any country outside the United States. But doing business with commercial partners in a democratic system is a far cry from taking investments from governments. And Trump will be pleased India has influence in BRICS, the organization of emerging economies that has now admitted five new states. India is showing it is countering China’s influence by condemning the conflict in Ukraine and promoting the cause of democracy. Saudi Arabia has been invited to BRICS, but has so far declined to attend. 

Many in the United States may not care how billionaires manage their own business interests. But after January 20, 2025, when Trump takes the Oath of Office, the United States is entering a new phase of personalized foreign policy. Trump does deals with individuals whom he likes. Three of the richest men in the world—Putin, bin Salman, and Musk—have succeeded in securing privileged positions of influence with the president of the United States.

Paul Webster Hare is a master lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies and a former British ambassador to Cuba. He can be reached at paulhare@bu.edu.

“POV” is an opinion page that provides timely commentaries from students, faculty, and staff on a variety of issues: on-campus, local, state, national, or international. Anyone interested in submitting a piece, which should be about 700 words long, should contact today@bu.edu. BU Today reserves the right to reject or edit submissions. The views expressed are solely those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University.