Here’s why Crown Prince Mohammed says he loves working with Trump

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said he enjoys working with US President Donald Trump, despite Trump’s comments that Saudi Arabia should pay for US protection.

The Prince, however, said the Kingdom has already paid— in money— for its deals with America.

“Actually we will pay nothing for our security. We believe that all the armaments we have from the United States of America are paid for, it’s not free armament,” he told Bloomberg in an extensive interview.

“Before two years ago, we had a strategy to shift most of our armament to other countries, but when President Trump became president, we’ve changed our armament strategy again for the next 10 years to put more than 60 percent with the United States of America.”

Since Trump became president, Saudi Arabia has created $400 billion in opportunities, whether it’s in investments, trade, or armaments, Prince Mohammed added.

“So this is a good achievement for President Trump, for Saudi Arabia,” he said.

 “I love working with him. I really like working with him and we have achieved a lot in the Middle East, especially against extremism, extremist ideologies, terrorism and Da’esh [Arabic acronym for ISIS] disappeared in a very short time in Iraq and Syria, and a lot of extremist narratives have been demolished in the past two years, so this is a strong initiative,” Prince Mohammed added.

The Crown Prince added that even if the United States shifts strategies in the Middle East— as it has done in the past— the Kingdom is still able to protect itself and its interests.

“Saudi Arabia was there before the United States of America. It’s there since 1744, I believe more than 30 years before the United States of America,” he added.

“And I believe, and I’m sorry if anyone misunderstands that, but I believe President Obama, in his eight years, he worked against many of our agenda – not in Saudi Arabia, but also in the Middle East. And even though the US worked against our agenda we were able to protect our interests.”