RIYADH (Dispatches) – The new U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, retired general John Abizaid, arrived in Riyadh on Thursday, an embassy statement said, filling a position vacant since President Donald Trump took office more than two years ago.
Washington has not had an ambassador in Riyadh since January 2017, a 27-month period in which U.S.-Saudi ties have become increasingly complicated over issues including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Trump nominated Abizaid, who led U.S. Central Command during the Iraq war, for the position in November 2018. He was approved by the Senate in April.
Many in Washington have called for a tougher stance against the Saudis on matters such as the imprisonment and torture of women’s rights activists and other dissidents, and the killings of civilians by aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war.
But Trump has expressed reluctance to push too hard on Riyadh, citing its multibillion-dollar purchases of U.S. military equipment and investments in U.S. firms, as well as its role as an important regional counterbalance to Iran.
Trump has, however, strongly defended Washington's ties with the kingdom.
Asked to explain his decision to ignore Saudi’s conduct in prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, Trump said last year that he didn’t want to lose "a million jobs” as well as a mega deal that was "really $450 billion if you include other than military."
Trump made similar statements earlier this week.
Before his presidency, Trump described Saudi Arabia as "a milk cow" which would be slaughtered when its milk ran out.
Last September, Trump said he had told King Salman that Riyadh has "trillions of dollars" and could pay its military bills.
"I love Saudi Arabia. They are great, King Salman, I spoke with him this morning. I said, king, you have got trillions of dollars. Without us, who knows what’s going to happen. .... With us they are totally safe. But we don’t get what we should be getting," he said.
Trump further threatened to end what he claimed to be subsidies for the Saudi military, calling for the oil-rich kingdom to pay up for U.S. "protection" of the country.