Saudi Arabia Plays It Safe, Dodges BRICS Membership to Keep Uncle Sam Happy

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In a move that might make even the most seasoned diplomats chuckle, Saudi Arabia has decided to shy away from formally joining BRICS, the economic alliance that’s been all the rage since 2009. Apparently, Riyadh wants to avoid upsetting its best friend—yes, the US of A—so it’s opting out of a full membership. Who knew? Politics, right? Always a balancing act.

According to a juicy report from Reuters, two anonymous sources (because we all love a good anonymous tip, don’t we?) spilled the beans on how Saudi Arabia, despite being invited to the BRICS club in 2023 and even showing up for a meeting in Brazil last week, is still holding off on signing up officially. Oh, and don’t forget, their name’s already on the BRICS website, which is almost like being in the club, but not really.

It turns out, Saudi Arabia has a real knack for diplomacy—or maybe it’s just really good at staying out of trouble. The country has avoided any formal membership in BRICS mainly because it doesn’t want to ruffle any feathers with the US, particularly with its former buddy, President Trump, who’s known for his… diplomatic “tactics.”

Now, let’s talk BRICS for a second. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill club. Formed back in 2009, BRICS is a power alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, all geared up to take on Western economic dominance. But wait, it doesn’t stop there! In 2024, they decided to spice things up by inviting a few other countries—like Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the UAE—making the group even more interesting, if not a little volatile.

But poor Saudi Arabia finds itself between a rock and a hard place, stuck between China (which buys its oil) and the US (which, well, offers lots of arms deals). Not exactly an enviable position. Speaking of which, Uncle Sam is apparently ready to offer Saudi Arabia a whopping $100 billion arms deal. Yeah, that’ll definitely get anyone’s attention!

And let’s not forget the Trump factor. Last December, the former president made it clear that if BRICS even thought about messing with the US dollar, tariffs would come flying in like confetti at a New Year’s party—100% tariffs, to be exact. That’s quite the threat, wouldn’t you say?

Trump didn’t mince words:

“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER. We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or, they will face 100% tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy.”

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2025-05-10 17:01