Newsweek 'Shocked' Trump Praises Saudi Prince After Decades of US Support
The mainstream media feigned surprise when Donald Trump lauded Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his supposed strides in 'human rights.' This isn't a new act; it's a well-rehearsed performance across administrations. US policy has consistently prioritized oil interests and regional alliances over actual human rights in the Kingdom, from the 1945 USS Quincy meeting between FDR and King
Abdulaziz, linking US security to Saudi oil, to George W. Bush's 'strategic relationship' post-9/11 despite 15 of 19 hijackers being Saudi nationals. Critics are 'shocked' by Trump, but silent on the broader, bipartisan tradition of arming and enabling the very regime responsible for the war in Yemen. Newsweek highlights the 'shock' of such praise, yet conveniently sidesteps the US State
Department’s regular approval of arms sales to Riyadh, amounting to billions, while simultaneously acknowledging Saudi Arabia's deplorable human rights record in its annual reports. The hypocrisy isn't Trump's alone; it's a systemic feature of US foreign policy, where 'human rights' become a flexible talking point, elastic enough to stretch over any inconvenient truth when strategic interests (or
arms sales contracts) are involved. One might wonder if the 'shock' is less about rights and more about who's saying what for the cameras.