Trump designates Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO US ally

"I'm pleased to announce that we're taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, which is something that is very important to them," Trump said as he hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a formal dinner at the White House.

"I'm just telling you now for the first time, because they wanted to keep a little secret for tonight...That's another point you won today, and signing a historic strategic defense agreement, which we just signed a little while ago. So congratulations," he added to applause.

Major non-NATO allies are granted certain defense trade and security cooperation benefits, including being able to enter into joint research and development programs with the Pentagon and having privileged access to US weaponry, training and loans.

Other major non-NATO allies include Bahrain, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Pakistan, Qatar, South Korea and Tunisia.

The designation does not in and of itself provide any security guarantees, but the White House earlier said that Trump and bin Salman signed a strategic defense agreement that it said "strengthens our more than 80-year defense partnership and fortifies deterrence across the Middle East."

It is unclear if the deterrence mentioned includes a guarantee that the US would defend Saudi Arabia if it were to come under attack. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.