The first official meeting between a special envoy from the Saudi King and U.S. President Donald Trump is being dubbed as a “historical turning point” by Riyadh after relations experienced “a period of divergence of views on many issues” with the Obama administration.
Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman met with Trump in Washington to discuss matters of mutual interests and concerns and a senior adviser to the Saudi Prince stated that the meeting has “restored issues on their right path and form a big change in relations between both countries in political, military, security and economic issues.”
Among the major issues that were on the agenda of the meeting was the nuclear deal signed between Iran and the so-called P5+1 in July 2015. Both Riyadh and President Trump have strongly criticized it. The senior adviser said deputy crown prince Mohammad considers it as a “very dangerous deal” and shares similar views with the US president that Tehran poses a danger to the Middle East due to its “regional expansionist activities.” President Trump has termed the nuclear deal as the worst deal ever and the White House believes that it is not in the best interest of the US.
Saudi Arabia is among the list of six countries targeted by Trump’s travel ban but the US president’s senior adviser Jared Kushner said it was not considered by the visiting prince as a move aimed at “Muslim countries or Islam.”
The Saudi senior adviser did note the Prince’s “satisfaction” following the “positive position and clarifications he heard from President Trump on his views on Islam.”
During his presidential campaign, the republican candidate had made derogatory remarks with regards to Islam.
