Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman characterized his meeting with President Donald Trump as a “historic turning point in bilateral relations” between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.
A statement released by the Saudi leader was effusive in its praise for the U.S. president’s “great understanding” of geo-political problems in the Middle East and his concern for better relations with the Saudi people.
Salman also agreed with Trump’s efforts to enforce a temporary travel ban on visitors to the U.S. that includes countries with a Muslim-majority population.
“Saudi Arabia does not believe that this measure is targeting Muslim countries or the religion of Islam. This measure is a sovereign decision aimed at preventing terrorists from entering the United States of America. President Trump expressed his deep respect for the Religion of Islam, considering it one of the divine religions that came with great human principles kidnapped by radical groups,” he said.
Salman also acknowledged “the existence of a plot against the United States of America that has been planned in those countries in secret by those groups that took advantage of what they assume a security weakness to conduct operations against the United States of America.” He pledged his full support for any measures “to protect the United States of America from expected terrorist operations.”
The two men also discussed “economic files” with the deputy crown prince promising Trump that American companies would be provided “with the opportunities to enter the Saudi market.”
Salman said these opportunities would not have been provided “without President Trump’s efforts to improve the climate for investments inside the United States of America.”
The meeting also produced an agreement on preventing “any Iranian nuclear military capacity” and the Saudi government’s condemnation of “Iran’s support of terrorist organization such as Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, ISIS and others along with its obstructing of any deal to settle the Palestinian issue,” adding that this was “a form of exporting its issues abroad” and “nothing but another attempt to the gain the legitimacy it lacks among Muslims.”
Salman and Trump also discussed terrorism in the region and “both parties agreed that recruitment campaigns carried out by some terrorist groups in Saudi Arabia against Saudi citizens are launched to legitimize these groups…attempting to harm the Saudi strategic relations with the US in particular, and the rest of the world in general. ”
They even discussed the wall — or Saudi Arabia’s fence with Iraq, which the deputy crown prince described as a “successful experience … which led to preventing illegal entrance of individuals, as well as preventing smuggling operations.