President
Trump at a rally in Green Bay, Wis., on Saturday, during which he said
Washington was still “subsidizing” the Saudi military.CreditErin Schaff/The New York Times
By Ben Hubbard
BEIRUT,
Lebanon — At a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis., on Saturday,
President Trump tore into Saudi Arabia, an important Middle Eastern
ally, as yet another country giving the United States a bad deal.
He
said that although the kingdom had spent $450 billion in the United
States, Washington was still “subsidizing” the Saudi military. Mr. Trump
said during the rally that he had complained about that to the Saudi
monarch, King Salman, in a phone call.
“King!” Mr. Trump said he told the monarch. Using an expletive, he said, he griped that the United States was losing its shirt defending Saudi Arabia, “and you have a lot of money.”
It
is highly unlikely that the call took place as Mr. Trump described, but
in any case, the president appears to have mischaracterized the
relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia.
We fact-checked Mr. Trump’s claims.
Military support
The
relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has long rested
on a simple equation: The United States buys Saudi oil, and Saudi
Arabia buys American weaponry, with the understanding that America would
help protect the kingdom in case of a foreign attack.
Portraits
of President Trump and King Salman of Saudi Arabia were projected onto
the Ritz Hotel during the president’s visit to the kingdom in 2017.CreditStephen Crowley/The New York Times
Image
During
his visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2017, the first foreign trip of his
presidency, Mr. Trump said he had concluded a $110 billion arms deal
with the kingdom.
But Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst now with the Brookings Institution, wrote an analysis saying that was false.
The
alleged deal, according to Mr. Riedel, was actually a conglomeration of
nonbinding letters of intent for future business and previous deals
initiated during the Obama administration, when the kingdom bought $112
billion in weapons.
Nearly
two years after Mr. Trump’s announcement, only one new major arms deal
has gone through. This month, the Pentagon awarded a $2.4 billion
contract to Lockheed Martin for missile defense technology. The Saudi
government was expected to pay $1.5 billion for its part of the deal, Reuters reported.
The
Saudi government has continued to pay the United States for munitions,
maintenance and training of its forces under previous contracts.
Saudi
Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and terminal in Saudi Arabia. The
United States buys Saudi oil, and Saudi Arabia buys American weaponry.CreditAhmed Jadallah/Reuters
Image
As for subsidies, the kingdom receives about $10,000 per year in American military assistance, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. Receiving this aid qualifies the kingdom for a discount on American training — which the kingdom also pays for.
Financial ties
Saudi Arabia has strong economic ties to the United States and is Washington’s largest trading partner in the Middle East.
The
kingdom has the world’s second-largest proven oil reserves, after
Venezuela, and is a top oil exporter, making it a major player in global
energy markets.
Despite the robust
trade, there is no publicly available information to back up Mr. Trump’s
claim of $450 billion in Saudi spending in the United States. The White
House has not detailed how Mr. Trump arrived at that number.
Total exports of goods and services to Saudi Arabia from the United States in 2018 were about $22.3 billion, according to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That was down from about $25.4 billion in 2017.
Muslim
pilgrims praying at the Grand Mosque ahead of the annual Hajj
pilgrimage in Mecca in 2018. Saudi Arabia, as the protector of Islam’s
holiest sites — including Mecca — is often a valuable diplomatic
partner.CreditDar Yasin/Associated Press
Image
In
the long run, the rise in American oil production will probably
undermine the foundations of the trade relationship with Saudi Arabia.
The more oil that the United States produces, the less it needs to buy
from Saudi Arabia. And the kingdom produces little else that the United
States wants to buy.
Other benefits
The United States receives other advantages from its strong relationship with the kingdom.
Saudi
Arabia, with its clout in the Muslim world as the protector of Islam’s
holiest sites — including Mecca, in western Saudi Arabia — is often a
valuable diplomatic partner.
The two
countries’ intelligence services work together closely, sharing
information about terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic
State, and other threats.
Saudi
Arabia also often participates in American initiatives in the Middle
East, such as the United States-led coalition against the Islamic State.
In October, the kingdom gave $100 million to the United States to help stabilize parts of Syria liberated from the militants.
But even with security cooperation, the kingdom usually picks up the bill.
American
advisers work in important security, industrial, energy and cyber
security offices inside the Saudi government, their jobs paid for by the
Saudis, according to the Congressional Research Service.
“U.S.
training and security support to Saudi Arabia remains overwhelmingly
Saudi-funded via foreign military sales and other contracts,” the
service said.
Follow Ben Hubbard on Twitter: @NYTBen.
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A7 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump Muddles Facts Of Guns, Oil and Money In U.S.-Saudi Relations. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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