00:00Saudi Arabia was the choice of destination for the first state visit by the U.S. President Donald Trump for the second term and his first as well.
00:11How much of a message do you think that sent out to the wider world, that this was the president's first choice of destination?
00:20Well, he went there first in his first presidency, too. But I think what has changed over those years is that the crown prince has made great progress at, I talk about this in the book, obviously, because he talks about it, that he is not going to choose between China and the U.S.,
00:46that he sees Saudi Arabia as playing a major role in international politics and being friends with Russia because he needs Russia to cooperate on oil production and pricing,
01:02being friends with China, being friends with the U.S.
01:09He very much wants, but he doesn't see the necessity of making a choice.
01:16And I think he has established now that he doesn't have to.
01:21Trump stood up in his speech in Saudi Arabia and said, having pushed constantly for the big thing he wants is Saudi and Israel to recognize, to establish diplomatic relations.
01:39You know, he looked at the crown prince and said, you will do it in your own time.
01:44So he seems to be accepting that there are some things he can't dictate, that this young man has set up a strategy that's working for Saudi Arabia.
02:00He still needs, in my view, the kingdom still needs much more foreign investment than it is getting.
02:08Even though it has a lot of money, its spending priorities are enormous.
02:16So it does need money.
02:18And I think while Trump hopes to get money out of Saudi Arabia, the crown prince also hopes to get investment into Saudi Arabia from the U.S.,
02:28especially high-tech investment, and he is getting some of it.
02:33So right now, you know, it looks like things are going, are working.
02:41His strategy for playing a more prominent role in the world is succeeding.
02:47And that was recognized, but not created by Donald Trump.
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