On November 6th, Donald Trump praised the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia for his anti-corruption purge in the country.
President Donald Trump praised Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Bin Abdulaziz in a Tweet on Monday, days after the Saudi leader removed a number of prominent officials in an anti-corruption crackdown.
Dozens of high profile princes, military leaders and ministers were arrested in the weekend purge soon after the creation of anti-graft commission headed by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. Officials have called it an anti-corruption initiative, while some outsiders have criticized it as a power move.
The purge was the latest in a series of dramatic steps by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, or MbS as he is commonly referred to in Western circles, to assert Saudi influence internationally and amass more power for himself at home.
Among those arrested were billionaire investor Alwaleed bin Talal, who is one of the kingdom’s most prominent businessmen and whose investments in companies like Twitter make him the most recognized Saudi name on Wall Street, and two of the late King Abdullah’s sons. The Saudi government has described the action as a sweeping effort to combat corruption and hinted that it might widen further.
A U.S. official who declined to be named told that MbS “has become the primary driver of Saudi policy-making. He has moved aggressively to sideline opponents, concentrate decision-making authority, and establish himself as the undisputed heir to the al Saud legacy. He seeks to reinvigorate the public’s confidence in the Saudi monarchy by diversifying the economy, loosening religious restrictions, and carrying out wide ranging social reforms.”
Unlike his predecessor-Barak Obama, Trump pursued a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia choosing it in May for his first foreign trip since taking office. The countries announced contracts worth more than $380bn, including a $110bn arms deal aimed at countering perceived threats from Iran and radical Islamists. Prince Mohammad is close to Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser.
I have great confidence in King Salman and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, they know exactly what they are doing….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2017
….Some of those they are harshly treating have been “milking” their country for years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 6, 2017
Trump administration has vowed to confront Iran much more aggressively in the region, where it shares the Saudi view that Tehran is fomenting instability via a number of proxies in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen among other countries. Tehran denies the allegations.
Events in Saudi Arabia in recent days appeared to open the prospect for a sharper confrontation with Iran and its proxies.
Saudi Arabia accused Lebanon on Monday of declaring war against it because of what it called aggression by the Iran-backed Lebanese Shi‘ite group Hezbollah.
Saudi-allied Lebanese politician Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister on Saturday, announcing his resignation from Riyadh and blaming Iran and Hezbollah in his resignation speech.
Also on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s air defense forces intercepted a ballistic missile fired from warring Yemen over the capital, Riyadh.
The Pentagon praised Saudi Arabia for “exposing” Iran’s role in Yemen and Tehran’s provision of missile systems to Houthi militia fighting there.
“Between that (Hariri’s resignation) and the missile launch on Riyadh … the coincidence of those two does mean that the prospect of some escalation, some strike either against Hezbollah or against Iran or against both is more likely, certainly than it was a few days ago,” said Rob Malley, vice president for policy of the International Crisis Group.
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