Washington (CNN) Saudi Arabia's purge of senior officials and royal family members highlights aggressive changes taking place in the 85-year-old kingdom and, some analysts say, possibly risks in the newly close relationship the White House has forged with Riyadh.

Government ministers, former officials and princes were swept up in an anti-corruption campaign that some analysts said could raise the risk of internal conflict, particularly as the arrests looked more like a consolidation of power by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the force behind the kingdom's most assertive new policies.

The 32-year-old, popularly known as MBS, has forged a close working relationship with President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, while Trump himself has praised Saudi ruler King Salman, along with the relationship he's developed with him, and made Riyadh the first pomp-filled stop of his first official trip overseas.

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The Trump administration has aligned the US more closely with Saudi Arabia, even as some of the kingdom's policies -- including a fight with Qatar, home to a major US military base, and a Saudi-led war in Yemen that is creating a catastrophic humanitarian crisis -- have raised concerns among US national security officials and experts.

"I would say there are other elements in US government that are concerned more significantly of the risks that some of MBS' actions pose to regional security," said Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a former CIA analyst who is now a fellow at the Washington Institute specializing in Arab Gulf politics.

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