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It’s unclear exactly what the former president discussed with Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but news of their call came amid the Biden administration’s negotiations with the Saudis over a Middle East peace plan.
By Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan
Former President Donald J. Trump recently spoke with Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in their first public verbal exchange since Trump became president. Trump left in January 2021, according to two other people briefed on the discussion who were not legal to speak publicly about it.
It’s unclear exactly what the two men discussed and whether it was their only verbal exchange since Trump left the White House. Neither Trump’s representatives nor a Saudi government official responded to requests for comment.
But the news of their discussion comes at a time when Biden’s leadership is immersed in delicate negotiations with the Saudis aimed at a lasting peace in the Middle East, at building diplomatic relations between Israel and several Arab states forged through the paintings of the Trump administration.
If President Biden manages to achieve a trilateral mega-deal, it would most likely come with a peace agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel, an Israeli commitment to a two-state solution, a U. S. -Saudi defense treaty, and U. S. -Saudi agreements on a civilian issue. Saudi Arabia’s nuclear program. —He wants two-thirds of senators to ratify the U. S. -Saudi treaty. Trump, as the presumptive Republican nominee at the head of his party, could block any deal or give the green light to congressional Republicans.
Trump has other reasons for maintaining warm relations with Prince Mohammed. The former president and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and former senior White House adviser, forged close ties with the crown prince during his time in the workplace and capitalized on that goodwill. in their personal endeavors since leaving the government.
Saudi Arabia was the first hurdle to Trump becoming president, a sign of the price Trump put on this relationship. Trump has struck primary deals with the Saudis, adding arms sales, and defended Prince Mohammed at a time when foreign tensions were at their highest, after the CIA tried to do so. It concluded that the crown prince ordered the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
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