President Donald Trump says he has warned Saudi Arabia’s King Salman he would not last in power “for two weeks” without US military support.
“We protect Saudi Arabia. Would you say they’re rich. And I love the King, King Salman. But I said ‘King — we’re protecting you — you might not be there for two weeks without us — you have to pay for your military,'” Trump said to cheers at a rally in Southaven, Mississippi on Tuesday.
Trump, however, did not say when he made such remarks to the Saudi monarch.
This comes a few days after the Republican president called on Riyadh to increase its military spending, with an eye on more weapons sales to the “rich” kingdom.
“I love Saudi Arabia. They are great, King Salman, I spoke with him this morning. I said, king, you have got trillions of dollars. Without us, who knows what’s going to happen. …. With us they are totally safe. But we don’t get what we should be getting,” he said at a…