Trump: Saudis not paying enough for defense
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump complained on Thursday that US ally Saudi Arabia is not treating the United States fairly and that Washington is losing a “tremendous amount of money” defending the kingdom.
“Frankly, Saudi Arabia has not treated us fairly, because we are losing a tremendous amount of money in defending Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Trump’s criticism of Riyadh was a return to his 2016 election campaign rhetoric, when he accused the kingdom of not pulling its weight in paying for the US security umbrella.
“Nobody’s going to mess with Saudi Arabia because we’re watching them,” Trump told a campaign rally in Wisconsin a year ago. “They’re not paying us a fair price. We’re losing our shirt.”
In an interview with Reuters, Trump confirmed his administration is in talks about possible visits to Saudi Arabia and Israel in the second half of May. He is due to make his first trip abroad as president for a May 25 NATO summit in Brussels and could add other stops.
A visit to Israel would reciprocate a White House visit in February by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is due to meet with Trump in Washington on Wednesday.
Trump has set a more positive tone with Israel than his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, who often clashed with the right-wing Israeli leader, and has raised concerns among Palestinians that their leaders may not get equal treatment.
Trump has also asked Israel to put unspecified limits on its building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and has promised to seek a Middle East peace deal that eluded his predecessors. However, he has offered no new diplomatic prescriptions.
“I want to see peace with Israel and the Palestinians,” he said. “There is no reason there’s not peace between Israel and the Palestinians – none whatsoever.”
The United States is the main supplier of Saudi military needs, from F-15 fighters to control and command systems worth tens of billions of dollars in recent years, while American contractors win major energy deals.
The world’s top oil exporter and its biggest consumer have enjoyed close economic ties for decades, with US firms building much of the infrastructure of the modern Saudi state after its oil boom in the 1970s.
Saudi officials could not be reached for comment on Trump’s latest comments.
But Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir rejected similar comments from Trump during his election campaign, telling CNN during a visit to Washington last July that the Islamic kingdom “carries its own weight” as an ally.
Saudi Arabia’s powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Trump last month in a meeting that was hailed by a senior Saudi adviser as a “historical turning point” in relations. The talks appeared to signal a meeting of minds on many issues, including their shared view that Iran poses a regional security threat.
Riyadh and other Gulf allies see in Trump a strong president who will shore up Washington’s role as their main strategic partner and help contain Riyadh’s adversary Iran in a region central to US security and energy interests, regional analysts said.
Asked about the fight against Islamic State, which Saudi Arabia and other US allies are confronting as a coalition, Trump said the terrorist group has to be defeated.
“I have to say, there is an end. And it has to be humiliation,” Trump said, when asked about what the endgame was for defeating Islamist violent extremism.
“There is an end. Otherwise it’s really tough. But there is an end,” he added, without detailing a strategy.
Trump brushed aside a question of whether he might use a possible trip to Israel to declare US recognition of the entire city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a reversal of longstanding US foreign policy likely to draw international condemnation.
“Ask me in a month on that,” he said, without elaborating.