Still Report #741 – Trump: No More Saudi Oil, Unless…

from Bill Still

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In a Friday telephone interview with the New York Times, Donald Trump said he would be taking his negotiating skills to an entirely new level with Saudi Arabia.
In an article published yesterday, Trump said that he would consider halting oil purchases from the Saudis unless they either agreed to substantially provide people and equipment to help fight ISIS, or “substantially reimbursed” the United States for doing so.
“If Saudia Arabia was without the cloak of American protection, I don’t think it would be around [long],” Trump said.
As one foreign policy observer who spoke only on conditions of anonymity told the Still Report:
“Trump’s move is brilliant. It is essentially a checkmate move, because if Trump refuses to buy oil, especially when oil is cheap, that would accelerate an economic downturn.
“Coupled with removing U.S. protection, this would lead to an internal revolution and the end of the Saudi family rule.
“There are many unskilled Saudis who are unemployed presently who prefer to live on welfare rather than do ‘lowly jobs’ currently done by imported foreigners.
“If the House of Saud Royal family was no longer able to pay that welfare tab, they would have no more moves left to play and hence, have to capitulate.”
The result would be some sort of Saudi spring – some sort of democratic movement – and the Royal family would be out.
“This gives Trump tremendous negotiating leverage. He could negotiate that the Saudis take most of the migrants currently flooding Europe and built giant new cities for them in the vast deserts of their country.
“Trump can make them stop sponsoring ISIS – cold. He could make them get out of Yemen, and dry up much of the weapons funding to the African groups.
“But most importantly for the U.S., he could make them stop funding mosque-building in the west, and stop the most radical ones – cold. All this just from this one brilliant threat.”
Trump went on to tell the Times he would negotiate similar – pay- for-military-protection agreements with Japan and South Korea, but in addition encourage them to:
“…to build their own nuclear arsenals rather than depend on the American nuclear umbrella for their protection against North Korea and China.”
According to Trump: “[If the U.S.] keeps on its … current path of weakness, they are going to want to have that anyway, with or without me discussing it.”
Of course, Trump would renegotiate the Iran deal, but declined to provide much detail as these negotiations would be coming to the forefront very early on in his administration.
Trump also named three new foreign policy advisors, including a favorite of mine, retired Rear Adm. Charles R. Kubic,
Trump summed up his foreign policy as:
“Not isolationist, but I am America First. We will not be ripped off anymore. We’re going to be friendly with everybody, but we’re not going to be taken advantage of by anybody.”
I’m still reporting from Washington. Good day.