All posts tagged "Saudi Arabia"

A classified U.S. intelligence assessment has found that Saudi Arabia has not ruled out building a nuclear weapons program, cutting against President Donald Trump's pitch for a deal that could let the kingdom enrich its own uranium.

The assessment was part of classified documents sent to Congress last month, U.S. officials told The Washington Post. The same documents included input from the State Department, which, according to the officials, put more faith in the agreement's protections and in Riyadh's pledges.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said the United States shouldn't take Riyadh at its word....

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ignited an internet firestorm Thursday after commenting that the new Saudi nuclear deal would put America First.

During a White House press conference, a reporter pressed her to explain why this negotiation was underway.

"Why does Saudi Arabia get a civilian nuclear deal but Iran doesn’t get a civilian nuclear deal?" the reporter asked.
...

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt should be fielding questions about Jared Kushner's $2 billion tie to Saudi Arabia, a media expert fumed Thursday.

Judd Legum, founder of the Substack Popular.info, took to social media to share his disgust after Leavitt was grilled about President Donald Trump's controversial nuclear deal at a White House press conference.

His frustration appeared in the form of a list of news outlets that covered the US-Saudi nuclear deal without mentioning that Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior White House aide, is getting paid by the Saudi government."...

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Thursday that President Donald Trump has used Truth Social to announce changes to the Saudi nuclear deal, sparking backlash online.

Leavitt told reporters during a White House press conference that Trump had made the public comments despite the fact that he had not consulted them this time.

"As you know, the president just put this statement out a few hours ago," Leavitt said. "I don't believe he's had a call with MBS in the hours since. However, this is something that he has raised in previous conversations and has also said many times in the past."...

President Donald Trump's relationship with peace envoy Steve Witkoff started in an unusual way — over a deli sandwich, according to a Slate report on Wednesday.

Journalist and author Andrea Bernstein described her encounter with Witkoff, the Trump insider, whose financial ties have come under scrutiny as he works as "Special Envoy for Peace Missions."

"He looks like a grandpa, and sounds a little like a Jewish sidekick in a Pixar movie," Bernstein wrote. "I’d known of him as a New York real estate mogul from covering Trump’s first presidency, and New York politics and real estate before that, but only vaguely. One day, I leaned forward to ask Witkoff what brought him to the courtroom that day. He told me he’d come for his friend. That word stuck with me: friend."...

President Donald Trump's sudden change of policy on reopening the Strait of Hormuz has angered Gulf allies and changed how they view the United States amid the Iran war, an expert said on Thursday.

Ravi Agrawal, editor in chief of Foreign Policy Magazine, told MS NOW that Trump's decision followed Saudi Arabia's move to suspend the U.S. military's ability to use its bases and airspaces for the ongoing military operation. The key Gulf ally's decision was a response to "Project Freedom," which Trump announced on his Truth Social platform over the weekend — without discussion among the regional allies.

The backlash has had real ramifications, Agrawal argued....