Trump Gives an Interview to Saudi State TV, Praises Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman as a ‘Great Guy’
Former President Donald Trump praised Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as “a great guy” who is “respected all over the world” in an exclusive interview with Saudi Arabian state-owned news outlet Al Arabiya.
The outlet’s Washington bureau chief Nadia Bilbassy-Charters discussed a range of issues with the former president, including Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza and the path to peace in the region.
The journalist asked Trump how he would describe the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia. He replied:
I think it’s fine, right now, when I was president, it was GREAT, with capital letters: G-R-E-A-T, great. And I have so much respect for the king, so much respect for Mohammed, who is doing so great. I mean, he’s really a visionary. He’s done things that nobody else would have even thought about. His very long city that he’s building, he’s really doing something. He’s a great guy. And he’s respected all over the world.
Trump then pivoted to attack President Joe Biden for his infamous fist-bump photo with the crown prince during a visit to the region in 2022. Backlash came over the fist-bump as seeming contradiction in demeanor to the crown prince after a previously hardline stance. In 2019 Biden vowed to make the country a “pariah” on the election campaign trail back after the CIA concluded that the Saudi leader had approved the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside an Istanbul embassy in 2018.
Trump continued:
So when you think, I mean, right now it’s just okay, it’s fine. Biden goes over there and he fist pumps. You don’t fist pump. You go over there and you do it right. You shake a hand or something. You hug. You do… But it could never be great with a guy like Biden. Could never be.
I don’t even think it would be good with Kamala. I don’t think it would be good at all. But with me, it will be great. And I have great respect for Saudi Arabia and for many of the other rulers over there, many of the other countries over there.
Watch above on Al Arabiya.
