A very interesting snippet from yesterday’s traveling press pool …
Response to question on how the U.S. withdrawal from Syria will impact Israel:
Trump: “I don’t see it that way. I spoke with Bibi. I told Bibi, you know we give Israel 4.5 billion dollars a year. And they are doing very well at defending themselves.”
“We’ll always be there for Israel.”
“I’m the one that moved the embassy to Jerusalem. I was the one who was willing to do that”
“So that’s the way it is we are going to take great care of Israel. Israel is going to be good. We give Israel 4.5 billion a year. And we give frankly a lot more than that if you look at the books. They’ve been doing a good job.”
It’s hard to say President Trump has been consistent friendly with the Turks. He was intent on tanking their economy just a few months ago. But that was before the Khashoggi murder, a slowing economy and a dismal midterm election. Specifically it was before the Saudis had a deep interest in mollifying President Erdogan.
The Saudis and the Israelis have been the pillars of a regional alliance that Trump has backed fulsomely. But reading the tea leaves here strongly suggests it’s the Saudis driving Trump’s policies in the region, with the Turks and the Russians playing a more contingent second role. Trump’s aggressive/defensive response to this question, and implicitly to Netanyahu, is quite telling.
