Serious Concerns invade the Middle East countries after the victory of Donald Trump as the new American president, especially in Saudi Arabia, as Trump supports “JASTA”, a law that recently passed by the United States Congress to allow 9/11 family members to sue Saudi Arabia.
Trump slammed Obama for his veto that subsequently overrode JASTA bill, saying it was “shameful and will go down as one of the low points of his presidency, according to CNN.
Additionally, CNN revealed that in June 2015, Trump tweeted: “Saudi Arabia should be paying the United States many billions of dollars for our defense of them. Without us, gone!”
Trump’s declarations toward Saudi Arabia were received by the Kingdom Authorities with caution.
Although, Trump’s absolute support to “JASTA” , Adel Al jubeir, Saudi foreign minister did not react, but only had denied the declarations of America’s aid to the Saudi military, saying “The Kingdon of Saudi Arabia always carries its own weight”.
He also reacted to Trump’s declarations and personality, adding “The most thing that I like about this man is that he knows his audience, and therefore speaks with clarity of purpose.”
– Common files between Saudi Arabia and Trump
The current situation refers to the existence of a possible troubled relationship between Saudi Arabia and USA under Donald Trump, but following the position of the new American president toward some important political files including Libya, Iran and Syria, it would be possible for Saudi Arabia to continue as an important ally for the USA.
The first common file which might unify the American and Saudi political positions is the Iranian nuclear program.
Trump has usually said that he opposes the hard-fought deal to rein in Iran’s nuclear program that President Barack Obama negotiated, a declaration that comes parallel with the Saudi politics that criticized President Obama for enabling Iran to pursue its regional agendas.
Trump’s stance toward Iran, will mostly be welcomed by Saudi Authorities, which considers Iran ” a real enemy”.
In July 2015, Trump tweeted “Iran continues to do many bad things behind our backs. Time to WALK and double the sanctions. Stop payments!”, said CNN.
Furthermore, despite the fear of the Muslim community in America and the middle east because of Trump’s critical comments concerning Muslims and Islam. King Salman of Saudi Arabia was from the first leaders who congratulated Trump on winning the presidential election.
According Al-Arabiya website, King Salman confirmed during the conversation with Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to promote the historical and strategic relations with the United States, to bring peace and stability to the Middle East and the world.
By contrast President-elect Donald Trump expressed his thanks and appreciation and emphasized his keenness to develop the distinctive bilateral relations between the two friendly countries.
for the Libyan crisis, Trump asked in may 2016 “Who has the oil in Libya? and then answered “If ISIS has the oil, why aren’t we blockading so they can’t sell it? Why aren’t we bombing the hell out of [ISIS]?”
A tendency might also be supported by Saudi Arabia which carries on fighting Terrorism specially ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
“I don’t believe there is any country in the world that is more committed or more determined or has expended more resources and more effort to do this than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the Independent reported last October citing Saudi Foreign minister’s declarations to British Channel 4 News.
Concerning the Syrian crisis, Donald Trump’s agenda DID NOT light on the American direct intervention in Syria, but he announced that he will support the countries that will fight the terrorist groups specially ISIS.
According to Yomna Suleiman, an Egyptian political researcher at the Egyptian Institute for Political and Strategic Studies, In Syria where Russia and Saudi Arabia are fighting ISIS, Trump’s greatest support will go to the most effective of them. This support will not be a military one, but will serve as a green light to move.
As known,, Trump’s agenda in Syria is to exclude Bashar Al Assad, an aim which is parallel to the Russian vision, but according to the previous analyst, he might support the Saudi effort in Syria if it will be more effective in fighting and eliminating ISIS.
