Saudi Arabia's crown prince deposed

Saudi Arabia's king deposed the sitting crown prince Wednesday and replaced him with Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the deputy crown prince, the state news agency reported.

Prince Mohammed will continue in his role as minister of defense, according to the royal decree cited by state media.

Prince Mohammed visited the US in March, where he had lunch at the White House in the highest level meeting at the time between Saudi Arabia and US President Donald Trump.

Prince Mohammed is spearheading the kingdom's attempts to wean itself off oil as part of an economic strategy called Vision 2030 announced last year. He's also defense minister and son of King Salman.

During the visit, Prince Mohammed was looking for investment to support his diversification strategy.

"The deputy crown prince is coming to the U.S. with a plateful of economic potential," Salman Al-Ansari, president of the Saudi American Public Relation Affairs Committee, said at the time. "Vision 2030 will require a significant amount of foreign investment to help realize its objectives."

Developing story - more to come