Mohammed binBin Salman was appointed Crown Prince on 21 June 2017, following his father's decision to depose Muhammad bin Nayef, making him [[heir presumptive]] to the throne.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/saudi-arabia-appoints-king-salman-son-crown-prince-170621033707437.html|title=Mohammed bin Salman named Saudi Arabia's crown prince|work=[[Al Jazeera]]|date=21 June 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621091448/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/06/saudi-arabia-appoints-king-salman-son-crown-prince-170621033707437.html|archive-date=21 June 2017}}</ref> The change of succession had been predicted in December 2015 by an unusually blunt and public memo published by the German [[Federal Intelligence Service (Germany)|Federal Intelligence Service]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/12029546/Saudi-Arabia-destabilising-Arab-world-German-intelligence-warns.html|title=Saudi Arabia 'destabilising Arab world', German intelligence warns|work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|first=Justin|last=Huggler|date=2 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109000950/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/saudiarabia/12029546/Saudi-Arabia-destabilising-Arab-world-German-intelligence-warns.html|archive-date=9 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/prince-mohammed-bin-salman-naive-arrogant-saudi-prince-is-playing-with-fire-a6804481.html|title=Prince Mohammed bin Salman: Naive, arrogant Saudi prince is playing with fire: German intelligence memo shows the threat from the kingdom's headstrong defence minister|first=Patrick|last=Cockburn|date=9 January 2016|work=[[The Independent]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110132143/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/prince-mohammed-bin-salman-naive-arrogant-saudi-prince-is-playing-with-fire-a6804481.html|archive-date=10 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> which was subsequently rebuked by the German government.<ref name="NYT rebukes">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/world/europe/germany-rebukes-its-own-intelligence-agency-for-criticizing-saudi-policy.html|title=Germany Rebukes Its Own Intelligence Agency for Criticizing Saudi Policy|first=Alison|last=Smaledec|date=3 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707214349/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/world/europe/germany-rebukes-its-own-intelligence-agency-for-criticizing-saudi-policy.html|archive-date=7 July 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
On the day Mohammed bin Salman became Crown Prince, U.S. President [[Donald Trump]] called him to "congratulate him on his recent elevation". Trump and the new crown prince pledged "close cooperation" on security and economic issues, according to the White House, and the two leaders also discussed the need to cut off support for terrorism, the recent diplomatic dispute with Qatar, and the push to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web|first=Jake|last=Miller|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-congratulates-newly-elevated-saudi-arabian-crown-prince/|title=Trump congratulates newly-elevated Saudi Arabian crown prince|website=[[CBS News]]|date=June 21, 2017}}</ref> Mohammed binBin Salman told the ''[[Washington Post]]'' in April 2017 that without America's cultural influence on Saudi Arabia, "we would have ended up like [[North Korea]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-young-prince-reimagines-saudi-arabia-can-he-make-his-vision-come-true/2017/04/20/663d79a4-2549-11e7-b503-9d616bd5a305_story.html|title=A young prince is reimagining Saudi Arabia. Can he make his vision come true?|first=David|last=Ignatius|date=20 April 2017|work=[[The Washington Post]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710065344/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-young-prince-reimagines-saudi-arabia-can-he-make-his-vision-come-true/2017/04/20/663d79a4-2549-11e7-b503-9d616bd5a305_story.html|archive-date=10 July 2017}}</ref>
