*RIYADH – Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has brushed off commentsfrom US President Donald Trump that Washington is “subsidising” thekingdom’s military, Bloomberg reported Friday.*
The crown prince insisted that the kingdom has always paid for armamentsfrom the US.
“Ever since the relationship started between Saudi Arabia and the UnitedStates of America, we’ve bought everything with money,” he told Bloombergin an interview.
On Tuesday at a rally in Mississippi, US President Donald Trump said SaudiArabia and its king would not last “for two weeks” without US militarysupport.
“Saudi Arabia was there before the United States of America,” Salman said.“It’s there since 1744, I believe more than 30 years before the UnitedStates of America.
Prince Mohammed downplayed any apparent rift with the US leader and saidrelations between the two allies remains strong.
“You have to accept that any friend will say good things and bad things. Soyou cannot have 100 percent friends saying good things about you,” he said.
“You will have some misunderstandings. So we put that in that category.” -APP/AFP