After President Trump criticized U.S. foreign policy while overseas, Vice President Mike Pence scolded Trump for what he saw as Trump’s betrayal of American servicemen and women.
One stop on Trump’s inaugural Middle Eastern tour as president was a speech in Saudi Arabia, where he blasted “so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits” for their meddling in the area.
In response to Trump’s remarks, Vice President Pence stated, “I’ve never been a fan of American presidents criticizing America on foreign soil” during his interview on “Meet the Press” (NBC), which was filmed last week and aired on Sunday.
It was dishonorable, in my opinion, for the Saudi president to cast doubt on the United States’ worldwide war on terror, characterizing it as interventionist and nation-building, and to do so after generations of Americans had worn the uniform and confronted our enemies in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“And I thought it was unfortunate that you gave that speech in Saudi Arabia, the home of fifteen of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers (not counting Osama bin Laden),” he went on to say.
Pence reprimanded Trump at the same time that the president decided to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar, a country that is on Trump’s itinerary. The fact that Qatar is associated with the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hamas is why Pence also condemned this action.
“I strongly believe that the president should reevaluate the idea of accepting Air Force One from Qatar because it goes against our security and intelligence needs,” Pence stated.
It is clear that Trump is dedicated to what has been characterized as a transactional approach to foreign affairs, since his trip to the Middle East last week broke with presidential foreign travel conventions. Trump has downplayed the efforts of American presidents beginning with Jimmy Carter to encourage other countries to improve their human rights records, a point that is most noticeable in the countries he visited last week.
Among the more than two trillion dollars in investments that Trump supposedly secured with Middle Eastern leaders during his trip were the 160 Boeing jets purchased by the Qatari government and an approximately $150 billion arrangement between Saudi Arabia and American military companies.
Along with his international colleagues, Trump gushed about the new leader of Syria, describing him as “attractive” and “tough” despite the fact that he was formerly designated as a terrorist by the United States. He went on to call the royal family of Qatar “tall, handsome guys.”
Trump’s stance toward the Middle East changed drastically between his first and second administrations, as Pence’s critique of Trump’s recent actions shows. As an example, in 2017, Trump imposed his contentious travel restriction on seven Muslim nations and characterized Qatar as a “funder of terrorism at a very high level.”
