In the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth and its Ynet website ahead of the Nov. 18 meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reporters Itamar Eichner and Smadar Perry provided an inaccurate historical account of the relationship between the two leaders (“Trump: We Will Sell F-35s to the Saudis,” Nov. 18:
“This will be more than just a handshake meeting,” President Trump said even before the dramatic announcement. Prior to the current developments, [Trump] had rejected overtures from the Crown Prince’s palace in Riyadh over the past seven years. During his first term, Trump had no contact at all with the Saudis, but yesterday, ahead of the meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince, the imaginary-sounding sum that the Gulf state is investing in the United States was revealed – $600 billion. Half of the amount has already been transferred to banks in the United States, while Trump and bin Salman are expected to discuss where the second half will be directed [Emphasis added. Translated from Hebrew by CAMERA.]
This misleading description of President Trump’s relations with Saudi Arabia is very far from the known historical reality. During his first term, Trump had strong and close relations with the Saudis and with Crown Prince bin Salman.
President Trump in Riyadh in May 2017 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
For example, in May 2017, Trump traveled to Saudi Arabia for the first time. During the highly publicized visit — his first foreign trip as president — he delivered a speech before dozens of heads of states of Muslim countries. In addition, during the visit, he announced a massive arms deal, which Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth covered at the time:
The U.S. President signed in Riyadh what the Pentagon describes as the largest arms deal in American history. In exchange for $350 billion, Saudi Arabia will receive over the next decade missile defense systems, combat helicopters, warships, tanks, cyber defense systems, and more. Trump: “This is a huge day for the United States.” [Translated from Hebrew by CAMERA.]
In March 2018, Crown Prince bin Salman arrived for a three-week official visit to the United States. There, he met with President Trump as well as senior American government officials and business leaders.
After the murder of Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Trump defended bin Salman despite U.S. intelligence reports concluding that he approved the killing. Trump also refused to impose personal sanctions on bin Salman.
In May 2019, Trump declared a state of emergency in order to bypass Congress and approve an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. In the same year, he also authorized two transfers of nuclear technology to the Saudis. Then, in April 2019, Trump vetoed a congressional resolution to end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
As the above events indicate, President Trump went to great lengths to nurture and maintain close ties with the Saudis.
CAMERA’s Jerusalem office contacted Yedioth Ahronot and Ynet editors regarding the erroneous account of President Trump’s relationship with the Saudis. Ynet editors commendably corrected the online article, deleting the erroneous claim that “during his first term, Trump had no contact at all with the Saudis.”
For the Hebrew version of this article, see here.