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Trump and the Noxious U.S.-Saudi Relationship

Instead of disentangling the U.S. from this relationship, Trump is making a point of reaffirming it and sinking the U.S. even deeper into complicity with the Saudi-led coalition's crimes in Yemen.
saudi flag

The Saudis are happy with Trump:

Saudi Arabia hailed a “historical turning point” in U.S.-Saudi relations after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman highlighted the two leaders’ shared view that Iran posed a regional security threat.

The U.S.-Saudi relationship is a noxious one for both America and the wider region, so it is unfortunately all too predictable that this is a relationship that the new president is keen to cultivate. Obama indulged the Saudis in most things, especially when it came to providing support for their atrocious war on Yemen, but his support was still perceived to be lacking. When Trump took office, he might have distinguished himself from his predecessor by putting greater distance between the U.S. and the Saudis, but in part because of the Iran obsession that he and his advisers have that was never going to happen. Trump is distinguishing himself from Obama by trying to be even more pathetically “pro-Saudi” than his predecessor was. Instead of disentangling the U.S. from this relationship, Trump is making a point of reaffirming it and sinking the U.S. even deeper into complicity with the Saudi-led coalition’s crimes in Yemen. This is one of the worst things Trump could be doing right now, but because it will be viewed in Washington as “alliance management” it will provoke very little opposition or criticism.

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