Trump hosts ‘very special friend’ Sheikh Sabah of Kuwait
▶ Economic ties, the regional crisis and peace in Yemen in the leaders’ discussions
US President Donald Trump hosted Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah for two hours in the White House on Wednesday, where improving economic and security relations and the regional crisis were discussed.
Mr Trump and Sheikh Sabah delivered opening remarks before their meeting in the Oval Office.
Calling the emir “a very special friend of mine”, Mr Trump thanked Kuwait for the warm ties between the two countries.
“We practise large-scale trade together, investment together and also, very importantly, fight against terrorism together, and Kuwait has been a great partner,” he said.
Sheikh Sabah said his White House visit was a continuation of the “profound and strategic relationship between our two countries”.
He said the US and Kuwait were “working to reach an end to the crisis in the Gulf”, which started in June last year.
He also praised the efforts of UN envoy to Yemen, Martin Griffiths, and said he hoped for a “solution to the Palestinian conflict”.
Mr Trump lamented “the tragic situation in Yemen and in so many tragic areas in the Middle East”.
He said bringing stability to the Middle East was “very hard” and compared it to “a very complex jigsaw puzzle”.
Iran, Mr Trump said, was “a very much different place from when I first took office. Iran is in turmoil right now. They’re in total turmoil”.
“When I took office it was just a question of how long until they took over the entire Middle East. Now they are just worrying about their own survival as a country,” Mr Trump said.
“We’ll see what happens with Iran, whether they want to talk or not. That’s up to them, not up to me. I will always be available but it doesn’t matter one way or the other.”
Iran’s currency plunged to a new low against the US dollar this week, and the US president is expected to chair a UN Security Council meeting this month to increase pressure on Tehran.
Addressing the expected assault on Idlib in Syria, Mr Trump repeated his warning that “if it’s a slaughter, the world will get very angry and the US will get very angry too”.
But it was trade, defence and commerce deals that were expected to top the agenda in talks with Sheikh Sabah.
Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told The National that there would be “a focus on technology, with Kuwait and the US signing a letter of intent to enhance co-operation in cyber security”.
We fight against terrorism together, and Kuwait has been a great partner DONALD TRUMP US President