U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed criticism from a 9/11 widow and defended his strong relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), declaring that their recent phone call went ‘fine and dandy.’
The White House leader celebrated Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as a ‘good friend’.
Speaking alongside Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin while on a tour of the island nation on Saturday, Trump fielded questions from a throng of reporters about a recent call he had with the Saudi leader, known as MBS.
The call was reportedly about the momentum of the Houthis who have recently taken over a large swath of Yemen. ‘Well, I had a call with MBS,’ Trump said.
‘He’s a good friend of mine, and I can just say everything is gonna work out fine and dandy. It’s gonna be very good.’
The recent Houthi offensive has given the Islamist terror group better control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a waterway through which much of the world’s oil supply flows, similar to the Strait of Hormuz.
MBS had called Trump twice on Thursday to request US military strikes on the Houthis, but the president declined, Axios reported.
But striking the Houthis was a bridge too far for Trump, who was ridiculed for being too cozy with Saudi Arabia, a nation with links to some of the 9/11 terrorist hijackers, during a nationally televised service at the Manhattan memorial the day before.
Terry Strada, the widow of 9/11 victim Tom Strada, drew cheers from the crowd as she accused the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of fomenting ‘anti-American terrorism’ and sending its agents to support the hijackers.
