Former President Donald Trump recently spoke with his old “friend” and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
It’s the first conversation made public since Trump left the White House, the Times reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
It’s unclear what the two discussed or if it was their only conversation since Trump’s presidency ended in 2021, according to the Times. Representatives for Trump and the Saudi government did not respond to The Times’ requests for comment.
That Trump continued his relationship with the Saudi leader is not very surprising. When Trump was in office, Saudi Arabia was the first foreign country he chose to visit.
Trump’s relationship with the Saudis goes well beyond politics: it also extends to his financial interests.
In November 2022, a Saudi real estate developer said it had signed a deal with the Trump Organization to use the Trump brand for its $4 billion real estate development in Oman, according to Reuters.
Trump’s son-in-law and former top aide Jared Kushner received a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia in his investment fund after leaving the White House.
While in office, Trump called the Saudi leader “my friend” and praised him as someone “who has really done things over the last five years in terms of opening up Saudi Arabia “.
Trump also claimed he protected the Saudi crown prince from congressional scrutiny after the brutal murder of American journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
‘I saved the day,’ Trump reportedly said journalist Bob Woodward in 2020. “I managed to convince Congress to leave him alone. I managed to get them arrested.”
Representatives for Trump and the Saudi Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment sent outside of normal business hours.
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