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I told Saudi King he wouldn’t last for two weeks without us: Trump

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U.S President Donald Trump Tuesday said at a rally in Southaven, Missisipi, that he told Saudi Arabia’s current monarch, King Salman that he wouldn’t last in power “for two weeks” without the backing of the U.S. military, Reuters reported.

“We protect Saudi Arabia. Would you say they’re rich. And I love the King, King Salman. But I said ‘King – we’re protecting you – you might not be there for two weeks without us – you have to pay for your military,’” Trump said.

He, however, did not comment on when he had said those words.

Ironically, the Trump dministration has enjoyed a good relationship with the Middle-East monarch, also making it the first stop for his first trip as president last year.

Trump called King Salman on Saturday and they discussed efforts being made to maintain supplies to ensure oil market stability and global economic growth, according to Saudi state news agency SPA.

While speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, Trump said OPEC members were “as usual ripping off the rest of the world.”

“We defend many of these nations for nothing, and then they take advantage of us by giving us high oil prices. Not good. We want them to stop raising prices, we want them to start lowering prices,” Trump said.

He also urged other US allies, such as Japan, South Korea and Germany, to take more of the financial burden of their defense.

Currently, the middle-east kingdom is going through a bout of ‘moderation’ following Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s claims for a new route for the earlier conservative kingdom.

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