MBS Comes to Washington
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is visiting Washington for the first time since 2018 (a trip that came a few months before the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi).
President Donald Trump and MBS seem to have a warm relationship — “I like him too much,” Trump has said. But this trip was in danger of being postponed amid tensions over security, access to AI chips and nuclear technology, the future of Gaza, and the thorny issue of relations with Israel.
MBS will be greeted at the White House around noon and get a black-tie dinner. Then there’s an investment conference planned for tomorrow that executives for companies like Chevron and Pfizer will attend.
As with any official visit to the Trump White House, guests are expected to show up with a checkbook.
When Trump visited the region in May, he walked away with $1 trillion worth of deals, a figure that was later reduced to $600 billion.
Among the items the Saudis are expected to acquire are F-35 stealth planes, which cost about $100 million each. That’s something the US has refused to sell to the kingdom before.
See Also:
- Why Selling US F-35 Jets to Saudi Arabia Is Fraught: QuickTake
- Join a Live Q&A on the MBS-Trump meeting, Nov. 19 at 8 a.m. ET
Epstein Vote Teed Up
The House is expected to finally vote today on a measure requiring DOJ to release Jeffrey Epstein-related documents. Now, the question is whether a large House tally will pressure the Senate to act, Jonathan Tamari reports.
The legislation requires public disclosure of any documents, communications, and investigative materials in the department’s possession that relate to disgraced financier and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. All the material must be released within 30 days of enactment.
The main obstacle to the bill disappeared late on Sunday, when Trump changed his position and called for Republicans to vote in favor. Its future in the Senate is less clear.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Bloomberg News yesterday he wasn’t confident the Senate would take up the issue, but wondered how the chamber would respond if 350 or 400 House members back the proposal.
“How would you resist if the president says, ‘No problem here,’” Warner said.
Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), sponsors of the bill, will hold a press conference this morning with survivors of Epstein’s abuse.
BGOV subscribers can read more from Tamari in today’s Congress Tracker about today’s Epstein vote and Trump’s roughest stretch yet in his second term.
See Also:
- BGOV Bill Analysis: Releasing the Epstein Files
- Summers to Step Back From Public Roles After Epstein Backlash
US Chamber Wants Its Mojo Back
The US Chamber of Commerce tapped Rodney Davis, an ousted congressman-turned-lobbyist, to undertake the K Street version of Mission Impossible: recharge the influence of Washington’s biggest business lobby.
Fifteen months into the job, Kate Ackley reports that he’s pulled it out of the public dog house with some key Republicans. But there is still a lot of work to do. Read More
Exclusive: Warner’s AI Warning
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) shared a stark warning about the effect of AI on entry level jobs with Bloomberg reporters yesterday.
Rapidly advancing artificial intelligence threatens to drive up the unemployment rate of recent college graduates to as much as 25% within the next two to three years, he told Emily Birnbaum and Oma Seddiq.
The economic frustration of so many jobless young workers and families that have footed the cost of higher education will fuel a “level of social disruption that’s unprecedented.”
“I think this could be, by 2028, one of the most important issues,” said Warner, a former telecom executive and a leading voice in the Senate on technology issues. “We’ll have to meet that moment.” Read More
See Also:
Three Pillars of Leading Through Change
Leaders in lobbying and public policy advocacy are facing a rapidly changing political landscape. Leading a resilient practice through such changes requires a relentless focus on trust, teamwork, and transformation, Karishma Page of K&L Gates writes in a lobbying insight for Bloomberg Government.
“At its core, public policy advocacy is an exercise in democratic engagement,” Page writes. “The trust our clients place in us, the values we uphold, and the democratic principles we serve demand nothing less than excellence, integrity, and unwavering commitment.” Read more
Before You Go
Dem-on-Dem Rebuke: Two House Democrats Monday helped advance a rebuke of Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), who used a political maneuver to elevate his chosen successor after announcing his retirement. The resolution doesn’t carry any punishment, but it illustrates young Democrats’ discontent with old-school party politics, Maeve Sheehey reports. Read More
Beneath the Golden Arches: Trump addressed McDonald’s franchise owners yesterday, thanking the company for recommitting to “affordable options” and pushing back on criticism from Democrats who blame his tariffs for high costs. Read More
FEMA Chief Resigns: David Richardson resigned on Monday after about six months in charge of FEMA. Richardson had no emergency management experience when he took on the role and was criticized for the agency’s handling of the deadly July 4 floods in Texas, Zahra Hirji, Myles Miller, and Lauren Rosenthal report. Read More
Comey Probe’s Profound ‘Missteps': The indictment of James Comey was riddled with problems that may provide legal grounds to have it dismissed, a federal judge ruled. “The record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps, missteps that led an FBI agent and a prosecutor to potentially undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding,” US Magistrate Judge William Fitzpatrick wrote in a blistering ruling, Chris Strohm and Zoe Tillman report. Read More
Rural Hospital Funds: Fifty states are vying for a $50 billion pot of money to support health care in rural areas as questions swirl around which states will actually see dollars and what share of that will support rural hospitals, Erin Durkin reports. Read More
Never Mind the East Wing: A lawsuit alleges that Trump’s plan to clean, repoint, and repaint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House would violate several laws and must be stopped, Daniel Seiden reports. Read More
Morning Madness!: Bloomberg Government holds “Maps, Money and Midterm Madness,” our discussion of key legislative priorities for each party heading into 2026. Speakers include White House Deputy Chief of Staff James Blair and Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.). Today’s event at 8 a.m. is at capacity, but more info is here.
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