Former President Donald Trump spoke recently with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, according to a report.
The phone conversation between the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reported by The New York Times, comes as the Biden administration works to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
Normalizing relations between the Jewish state and a number of Muslim-majority countries was one of Trump’s notable foreign policy achievements during his single term.
It’s unclear exactly when the conversation between Saudi Arabia’s 38-year-old de facto leader and the 77-year-old former president took place, and no details on what was discussed during the call was not reported by the media.
The Trump campaign did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan canceled a planned trip to the kingdom on Wednesday after suffering a cracked rib that prevented him from traveling.
“This is a minor accident,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “This was not caused by anyone. This was not the result of any nefarious act.
Sullivan will look to reschedule his trip as quickly as possible, Kirby added.
The White House official was expected to hold talks with Salman regarding U.S.-led efforts to thaw relations between Jerusalem and Riyadh.
Diplomatic negotiations were interrupted after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
President Biden suggested the attack on Israel was launched in part to disrupt the talks.
“One of the reasons why they did what they did, why Hamas went to Israel, was because they knew that I was about to sit down with the Saudis,” Biden, 81, said at a fundraising event last October.
“Because the Saudis wanted to recognize Israel and that would actually unify the Middle East,” he added.
The emerging deal was aimed at increasing stability in the Middle East, fending off the Iranian nuclear threat – Iran is a fierce rival of Saudi Arabia – and increasing economic cooperation.
Under Trump, the United States negotiated normalization agreements – the Abraham Accords – between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco and Bahrain.
Former White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, who formed a close relationship with Salman during the Abraham Accords negotiations, reportedly received a $2 billion investment from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund for his company Affinity Partners, six months later. Trump left office.
New York Post
