[King Salman gave a more favorable welcome to Trump than he had granted last year to Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, who was seen in the Arab kingdom as soft on Iran and hesitant on Syria. (Extracted from the report at sl. no. II below.)
The trail of controversy did not stop when the US commander-in-chief’s wife Melania refused to cover her head during the Saudi trip, as is decreed by the kingdom’s regulations. Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump also opted-out of covering her head during the state visit. Trump in 2015 had criticized then-first lady Michelle Obama for not wearing a headscarf during a visit to Saudi Arabia, saying on Twitter that her hosts had been "insulted." (Extracted from the report at sl. no. I below.)] I/II. http://217.218.67.231/Detail/2017/05/21/522646/US-Saudi-Trump-Tillerson-Melania-Iran Trump busts a move after record Saudi arms deal Sun May 21, 2017 5:36AM [Video] *US President Donald Trump joins a sword dance held in his honor in Saudi Arabia after signing Washington’s largest-ever single arms deal with Riyadh.* He was accompanied at the Saturday jubilation by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. Trump had arrived in in the Saudi capital earlier in the day on the first leg of a nine-day overseas tour. Upon arrival and official reception, he proceeded to sign the $110-billion deal and other agreements amounting to $250 billion before joining the party. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir still put the volume of the collective bilateral deals higher, saying they were worth more than $380 billion. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Twitter that the “defense agreement” was the "largest single arms deal in US history." Speaking after the signing ceremony, Trump said, "That was a tremendous day. Tremendous investments in the United States. Hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the United States and jobs, jobs, jobs." Iran focus of arms deal Tillerson claimed the intent of the arms deal was to support Riyadh "in particular in the face of malign Iranian influence and Iranian-related threats which exist on Saudi Arabia's borders." He was echoing Saudi Arabia’s recurrent accusations against Iran of intervening in the region against the kingdom. The kingdom has been pounding Yemen for over two years and killing thousands of civilians there, accusing Tehran of such intervention in the impoverished country. Tehran has invariably spurned the claims. It said recently through its Foreign Ministry that its response to such repeated provocative remarks was that it was not seeking tension with Riyadh, and was even open to dialog with it. Read more: Iran says not seeking tensions with Saudi Arabia Riaydh, itself, is widely accused of funding and fueling Takfiri terrorism throughout the region. Iranian military top brass have, time and again, blamed the kingdom for hiring terrorists to operate against the Islamic Republic. Tillerson, however, sounded in harmony with Riyadh’s rhetoric when he urged Iran's President Hassan Rouhani to dismantle "Iran’s network of terrorism" and to end the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile tests. Iran says its missiles are not capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It says its missile program solely serves the country’s defense and that it will not seek anyone’s permission to boost it. Rouhani on Saturday called on Riyadh and its allies in the Persian Gulf to improve democratic standards within their own borders instead of playing a blame game with the Islamic Republic. Later through the trip, Trump is expected to visit Israel, the Vatican, Sicily, and Belgium. Observers say the drawn-out tour serves to misdirect attention from domestic woes, which emanate from Trump’s controversial and unpredictable measures, and serious standing accusations that his presidential campaign benefited from Russian contribution. Trail of controversy ***The trail of controversy did not stop when the US commander-in-chief’s wife Melania refused to cover her head during the Saudi trip, as is decreed by the kingdom’s regulations.*** [Emphasis added.] ***Trump's daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump also opted-out of covering her head during the state visit.*** [Emphasis added.] US First Lady Melania Trump (L) shakes hands with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on May 20, 2017. (Photo by AFP) ***Trump in 2015 had criticized then-first lady Michelle Obama for not wearing a headscarf during a visit to Saudi Arabia, saying on Twitter that her hosts had been "insulted."*** [Emphasis added.] Under the kingdom's dress code for women, Saudi women and most female visitors are required to wear a loose, black robe, known as an abaya, in public. The US president also gave his trademark thumbs up to the press as he rode the escalator from the tarmac to the royal terminal at the airport in Riyadh. In much of the Arab world, the gesture is considered a vulgar sexual insult, which had been pointed out by mainstream US media ahead of the visit. II. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-gulf-arrival-idUSKCN18G06K Sun May 21, 2017 | 1:24am EDT Under siege in Washington, Trump reaps Saudi arms deal, stronger ties By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland | RIYADH Under political fire at home, U.S. President Donald Trump sealed a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia on Saturday on his maiden foreign trip as he struggled to shift attention from the aftermath of his firing of the director of the FBI. The arms deal, plus other investments that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said could total up to $350 billion, was the central achievement of Trump's first day in Riyadh, first stop on a nine-day journey through the Middle East and Europe. Speaking to journalists after a ceremony to exchange agreements, Trump said it was a "tremendous day" and spoke of "hundreds of billions of dollars of investments into the United States and jobs, jobs, jobs. So I would like to thank all of the people of Saudi Arabia." King Salman gave Trump a remarkably warm greeting, meeting him at the steps of Air Force One on arrival, shaking the hand of Trump's wife, Melania, riding with Trump in his limousine and spending most of the day with him. But the political turmoil back in Washington consumed the headlines in the United States and cast a long shadow over the start of Trump's trip, which will include stops in Israel, the Vatican, Italy and Belgium. His firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation head James Comey on May 9 and the appointment of a special counsel to investigate Trump's 2016 presidential election campaign ties to Russia have raised the question of whether he tried to squelch a probe into allegations of a Russian connection. Fanning the flames was a New York Times report that Trump had called Comey a "nut job" in a private meeting last week in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and ambassador Sergei Kislyak. The Times quoted briefing notes of the conversation. Amid a mood of frustration, officials on board Trump's Riyadh-bound presidential plane scrambled to coordinate on responding to the story with staff in Washington and those who had just landed in the Saudi capital. Asked for a response, the White House said that for national security reasons, "we do not confirm or deny the authenticity of allegedly leaked classified documents." Russia's Interfax news agency on Saturday quoted Lavrov as saying he had not discussed Comey with Trump. "We did not touch this issue at all," the minister said. In another development, the Washington Post said a White House official close to Trump was a significant "person of interest" in the investigation into possible ties with Russia. leftright 27/27leftright U.S. President Donald Trump dances with a sword as he arrives to a welcome ceremony by Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at Al Murabba Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst 1/27leftright Tillerson, asked about the story, said he did not know who the "person of interest" was. Against that backdrop, Trump soldiered through a long day of diplomacy. Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir called the results of Trump's meetings with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz "the beginning of a turning point" between the United States, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies. Both he and Tillerson made clear the arms deal was aimed at countering Iran on a day that Hassan Rouhani was re-elected as Iran's president. Tillerson said Rouhani should use his second term to end Iran's ballistic missile testing and stop promoting extremism in a volatile region. He said he had no plans to talk to his Iranian counterpart but that he in all likelihood he would do so "at the right time." Al-Jubeir said Trump and King Salman agreed that action had to be taken to ensure Iran did not continue "aggressive policies in the region." Trump's trip has been billed by the White House as a chance to visit places sacred to three of the world's major religions, while giving him time to meet with Arab, Israeli and European leaders. CONTRAST WITH OBAMA VISIT ***King Salman gave a more favorable welcome to Trump than he had granted last year to Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, who was seen in the Arab kingdom as soft on Iran and hesitant on Syria.*** [Emphasis added.] Trump and King Salman seemed at ease with each other, chatting through an interpreter. At the royal al-Yamama palace, the king draped around Trump's neck the King Abdulaziz medal, the country's top civilian honor. At the end of the day, Tillerson and U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, holding swords, were seen participating in a ceremonial dance at Marraba Palace with a Saudi group. RELATED COVERAGE VIDEOTrump signs $110 billion Saudi arms deal VIDEOTillerson unaware of White House 'person of interest' in Russia probe Amid firestorm at home, Trump to seek reset with Islamic world Saudi King presents Trump with top civilian honor Traveling abroad, Trump struggles to escape crisis Saudi to open militant-monitoring center during Trump visit As Trump arrived for dinner with the king, a spectacle awaited him: Men dressed in long white turbans and carrying swords swayed and chanted in unison to beating drums in a courtyard. Trump, clearly enjoying himself, smiled and swayed, even seeming to dance a little at the center of the group. SYRIAN CIVIL WAR During their conversation earlier in the day, the king was overheard lamenting the Syrian war. Trump ordered air strikes against a Syrian airfield in April in response to a chemical weapons attack by government forces against civilians. "Syria too used to be one of the most advanced countries. We used to get our professors from Syria. They served our kingdom. Unfortunately, they too brought destruction to their own country. You can destroy a country in mere seconds, but it takes a lot of effort," he said. Trump's response could not be heard. The arms package includes a pledge by the kingdom to assemble 150 Lockheed Martin Blackhawk helicopters in Saudi Arabia, in a $6 billion deal expected to result in about 450 jobs in the kingdom. National oil giant Saudi Aramco was also expected to sign $50 billion of deals with U.S. companies on Saturday, part of a drive to diversify the kingdom's economy beyond oil exports, Aramco's chief executive Amin Nasser said. U.S. technology and engineering conglomerate GE said it had signed $15 billion of agreements with Saudi organizations. Trump is to deliver a speech in Riyadh on Sunday aimed at rallying Muslims in the fight against Islamist militants. He will also attend a summit of Gulf leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council. Shortly after taking office, Trump sought to block people from several Muslim-majority nations from entering the United States, but the travel ban has been blocked by federal courts. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Jeff Mason; editing by Sami Aboudi, Andrew Roche and Grant McCool) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
