They were all over each other in public but behind the scenes Trump and MBS had a little spat. Unsurprisingly, it’s because Trump seems to think that he can flatter Muslim countries into embracing Israel after what it did in Gaza, which is simply daft:
White House officials told the crown prince ahead of the meeting that Trump expected progress on normalizing Saudi relations with Israel.
- During the Nov. 18 meeting, Trump was the one who raised the issue and pressed hard MBS to join the Abraham Accords, U.S. officials say.
- The Abraham Accords, signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and several other Arab nations. They were a key foreign policy achievement in Trump’s first term.
- At that point the conversation got tense, the officials say. As Trump pressed, MBS pushed back.
- MBS explained to Trump that although he wants to do move forward with normalization with Israel, he can’t do so now because Saudi public opinion is highly anti-Israel in the aftermath of the Gaza war. He said Saudi society isn’t ready for such a move now, the three sources told Axios.
Trump and MBS were civil but the conversation was tough, one source with knowledge of the meeting and a U.S. official said.
- “The best way to say it is disappointment and irritation. The president really wants them to join the Abraham Accord. He tried very hard to talk him. It was an honest discussion. But MBS is a strong man. He stood his ground,” the source said.
- MBS demanded that in return for a peace deal with Saudi Arabia, Israel should agree to “an irreversible, credible and time-bound path” for a Palestinian state. MBS also made that clear publicly, after the meeting.
- Israel’s government opposes any path for a Palestinian state.
- “MBS never said no to normalization. The door is open for doing it later. But the two-state solution is an issue,” a U.S. official said.
Duh. Trump is really dreaming here:
- “Now that Iran’s nuclear program has been totally obliterated and the war in Gaza has ended, it is very important to President Trump that all Middle Eastern countries join the Abraham Accords, which will advance peace in the region,” the White House official said.
Trump also told MBS that he was going to supply them with the same F-35 fighter jets that Israel has (obviously trying to bride them) which outraged Israel and Rubio had to rush in to clean up the mess by telling Israel that we are just selling the Saudis the inferior F-35s.
We know Trump defended MBS ordering the killing and dismembering of Jamaal Kashogi but he also failed to defend the 9/11 families. As usual.
During his meeting with MBS, Trump didn’t raise the terrorism lawsuit that 9/11 victims’ families filed against Saudi Arabia. A judge recently allowed the lawsuit to go forward, citing overwhelming evidence of the kingdom’s complicity in the attack that killed 2,977 people.
It’s a good thing that a reporter didn’t bring it up or they would have been scolded for embarrassing their guest and Trump would have threatened to withdraw their broadcast license.
It’s just one embarrassing bull-in-a-china-shop moment after another. They all pretend to love him because he’s easily manipulated and hasn’t got a clue. But they’re not going to do anything they don’t want to do.