Trump Is Wrong: Israel Doesn’t Need MBS
An unofficial relationship with Saudi Arabia is useful, but it’s based on mutual interest and not on individuals.
Bibi knows better, but has no reason to correct Trump.
Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
On Thanksgiving Day, President Donald Trump held a video press conference from his resort in Florida. Unsurprisingly, he was asked why he continues to stand up for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, even though the CIA believes he personally ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump responded with his usual America First talking points: Saudi Arabia spends billions of dollars on American military equipment and technological products, creating “hundreds of thousands of jobs” for Americans; the Saudis have, at the president’s request, held down the price of oil, thus averting economic disaster and keeping cars on the road across the U.S. Trump also invoked Saudi Arabia as a necessary American ally, and a partner in the effort to contain Iranian aggression.