By Ted Belman.
I am thoroughly enjoying reading Kushner’s book “Breaking History”
“Back in January, during Trump’s first call with King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Saudi ruler told us to coordinate the potential trip with his son Mohammed bin Salman, the charismatic thirty- one- year- old deputy crown prince and minister of defense, known as MBS. Trump said that I would be his point person. When I got back to my desk, I already had an email from MBS asking to set up a call.
“In March, while MBS was in town to negotiate the details, a blizzard hit the Northeast. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, who was scheduled to have lunch with the president, canceled at the last minute because her plane could not take off from Germany. I asked Trump if he would have lunch 88 with MBS, since the deputy crown prince was already in town. Trump thought it was a great idea, despite White House National Security Council staff insisting that presidents don’t have lunch with foreign officials who are not the head of state. Trump dismissed that bureaucratic protocol and decided to explore a potential partnership that could advance America’s interests in the Middle East.”
“…. the lunch was a success. Trump told MBS directly that he wanted stronger cooperation in combating terrorism, countering extremism, and ending terrorism finance. He also expected Saudi Arabia to take on more of the defense burden in the region. America was not going to keep spending precious blood and trillions of dollars on endless foreign wars. It was a tough message, and Trump did not shy away.
“In response, MBS unveiled an ambitious and thorough antiterrorism plan. This ad hoc meeting reinforced my instinct that we should take a risk on Saudi Arabia for the president’s first foreign trip. Trump gave me the green light to continue planning. “
Trump nixed the trip at first and Kushner got him to the point of hearing him out. Tillerson and Mattis both were against the trip.
The following is another excerpt from the book:
“Around 10:00 a.m. the next day, a Sunday, I met Trump in the residence and briefed him on my proposal.
In addition to convening Muslim and Arab leaders, the Saudis had promised
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- to execute up to $300 billion in job- creating business deals with American companies,
- take unprecedented measures to block the financing of terrorism,
- open a global center to combat extremism,
- have the king of Saudi Arabia denounce violence in the name of Islam, purchase a substantial amount of US military equipment, and
- provide more military support in the fight against ISIS.
On top of all of that, they would roll out the red carpet for Trump and show America tremendous respect with military flyovers and a magnificent state dinner, a noticeable contrast from President Obama’s visit a year earlier, when they refused to greet him on the tarmac. The trip would give Trump an opportunity to forge stronger ties with the Arab world, issue a tough call to action against terrorism in the region, and lay the groundwork for normalizing relations between the Arabs and Israel. Plus, he would bury the media’s false narrative that he was Islamophobic. All of this would be accomplished in just forty- eight hours. “Let’s give it a shot,” Trump decided. “Tell Rex the trip is on, but I want everything in writing.”
Obviously Saudi Arabia was offering to change their support for terrorism and much more. Then Biden stole the election and one of the first things he did was to alienate MBS and drive Saudi Arabia into the arms of Russia.
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