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NOURNEWS- International Group: In a telephone conversation with Mohammad bin Salman on April 2, Trump gave the Saudi Crown Prince an ultimatum that if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) did not start reducing its daily production, he would not be able to stop lawmakers. The United States has approved the withdrawal of Saudi troops from Saudi Arabia.
This was confirmed by four sources familiar with Trump's telephone conversation with Ben Salman.
Trump's threat to end a 75-year-old strategic alliance between the United States and Saudi Arabia - unprecedented - was the most important lever in the US pressure campaign, leading to a major global deal to halt oil supplies as global demand plummeted due to the virus. Corona won the White House a diplomatic victory.
Trump gave the ultimatum to the Saudi Crown Prince 10 days before the announcement of OPEC's declining oil production. An American source familiar with the talks with senior government officials said the Saudi Crown Prince was so frightened that he ordered his aides to leave the room so he could continue the conversation privately.
Trump's move underscored his strong desire to protect the US oil industry from the historic fall in oil prices as economies around the world shut down amid the Kuwaiti-19 epidemic. Now, Trump has called on OPEC to cut oil production.
A senior U.S. official told Reuters that the White House had informed Saudi leaders that "if Saudi Arabia's oil production does not stop," there is no way to prevent US Congress from imposing restrictions that could lead to the withdrawal of US troops from Saudi Arabia.
"We are defending your oil industry, but you are destroying our country's oil industry," the White House spokesman said in a statement.
Reuters asked Trump about this at the White House on Wednesday night. Asked if he had told the Crown Prince that the United States might withdraw its troops from Saudi Arabia, Trump said: "I didn't have to tell him. I thought he and Russian President Vladimir Putin were very reasonable. They knew they had a problem, and then it happened.
Asked what he had said to the Saudi Crown Prince, Trump said in the interview that they were struggling to reach an agreement. I also talked to him on the phone and we were able to reach an agreement on reducing oil production.
Saudi government officials have not responded to Reuters' request for comment. A Saudi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the agreement was a request to all OPEC countries.
Reuters
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