Via Ismaeel Naar in nytimes.com: “Obviously, we worked with President Trump before, so we know him and we can find a way to work with him very well,” the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, told CNN last week during the kingdom’s annual investment forum nicknamed “Davos in the Desert.” During his last presidency, Mr. Trump fostered personal relationships with Gulf leaders, offered strong defense support for their countries while steering away from criticizing their human rights records. This time around, the Gulf states will likely look to the new Trump administration for help in ending the devastating war in the Middle East, firm security guarantees and American investment as they try to diversify the region’s economic base away from almost total reliance on energy.
