The Gulf War (1990–1991) marked a high point in the relationship when both countries and the UK jointly led an international military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

[14][15][16] American officials have criticized Saudi Arabia for actively enabling Russians to bypass US-EU sanctions and for undermining Western efforts to isolate Vladimir Putin.

In December 2022, Saudi Arabia hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a series of summits to sign a "comprehensive strategic partnership agreement" which elevated Sino-Arab relations.

He feared that further attacks would cease not only the country's oil production but also the flow of pilgrims coming into Mecca to perform Hajj, the basis of Saudi power and its economy at that time.

As the energy crisis began to adversely impact the American economy, officials from the Nixon administration threatened Saudi Arabia with direct military intervention.

[36] Following Operation Desert Shield, which was a response by U.S. President George H. W. Bush to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, America kept 5,000 troops in Saudi Arabia to maintain their protection and trade relations.

[42][43] A 2002 Council on Foreign Relations Terrorist Financing Task Force report found that "for years, individuals and charities based in Saudi Arabia have been the most important source of funds for al-Qaeda.

[51] In October 2001, the Wall Street Journal reported that Crown Prince Abdullah sent a critical letter to U.S. President George W. Bush on August 29: "A time comes when peoples and nations part.

"Terrorism does not belong to any culture, or religion, or political system", said King Abdullah at the opening address of the Counter-terrorism International Conference (CTIC) held in Riyadh in 2005.

The cooperation grew broader and covered financial, educational, and technological aspects both in Saudi Arabia and Muslim-like countries to prevent pro-Al-Qaeda terrorists' activities and ideologies.

[58] In May 2021, 22 federal lawmakers from New York and New Jersey pressured President Joe Biden to release the classified FBI documents that cite the role of Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 terror attacks.

The meeting included Lebanese-American lobbyist George Nader, Joel Zamel, who was an Israeli specialist in social media manipulation, and Blackwater founder Erik Prince.

[86] Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic Representative from Hawaii, criticized the move, saying that Saudi Arabia is "a country with a devastating record of human rights violations at home and abroad, and a long history of providing support to terrorist organizations that threaten the American people".

This horror is caused in part by our decision to facilitate a bombing campaign that is murdering children and to endorse a Saudi strategy inside Yemen that is deliberately using disease and starvation and the withdrawal of humanitarian support as a tactic.

"[92] A June 2022 report by The Washington Post and the Security Force Monitor at Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute stated that a "substantial portion" of airstrikes by the Saudi-led campaign were "carried out by jets developed, maintained and sold by U.S. companies, and by pilots who were trained by the US military".

[93] In October 2018, the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi put the U.S. into a difficult situation as Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner share a strong personal and official bond with Mohammad bin Salman.

[99] However, in November 2018, relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia re-strengthened when Trump nominated John Abizaid, a retired U.S. army general who spoke Arabic, as U.S. ambassador to the country.

[100] Saudi Arabia also brought a fresh face on board by appointing their first female ambassador, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud, to help calm relations in the wake of Khashoggi's death.

He had been accused of abuse of power after he used an obscure emergency procedure to bypass congressional refusal to approve an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan in May 2019.

[112] Their training resumed in late February 2020 after the United States Marine Corps and Navy implemented increased security measures with respect to foreign trainees.

[113] On July 3, 2020, it was reported that dozens of American diplomats would leave Saudi Arabia along with their families, due to the kingdom's failure at containing the coronavirus outbreak as its economy reopened.

President Richard Nixon and his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, feared that the abandonment of the international gold standard under the Bretton Woods arrangement (combined with a growing U.S. trade deficit, and massive debt associated with the ongoing Vietnam War) would cause a decline in the relative global demand for the U.S. dollar.

[147] In late 2021, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm blamed the OPEC oil cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, for rising motor fuel prices in the United States.

[148][149] As the Financial Times reported on November 4: "The White House has said OPEC+ risks imperiling the global economic recovery by refusing to speed up oil production increases and warned the U.S. was prepared to use 'all tools' necessary to lower fuel prices.

[154] In October 2022, in response to American objections, Saudi Arabia implied that the US was motivated by short-term political considerations of having lower gas prices during the midterm elections.

[159] On October 20, 2010, the U.S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history—an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

[167][168][169][170][171][172] In August 2018, a laser-guided Mark 82 bomb sold by the U.S. and built by Lockheed Martin was used in the Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a school bus in Yemen, which killed 51 people, including 40 children.

[173] On May 27, 2020, Bob Menendez, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, claimed during a CNN op-ed that the Trump administration had been covertly working on plans to sell $1.8 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia.

President Trump has also received wide criticism for declaring an emergency to bypass the opposition in order to sell weapons worth billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who have been accused of conducting war crimes.

In early 2024, Saudi Arabia softened its stance on Palestinian statehood in order to achieve a comprehensive security treaty, informing Washington that Israel's overall commitment to a two-state solution might suffice for the normalization of relations with the Gulf kingdom.