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Published on 22 May 2017
Donald Trump's first trip abroad as president was to Saudi Arabia, and the capital Riyadh laid on a grand royal welcome.
A business deal worth 350billion dollars was signed between the United States and Saudi Arabia - about one-third of which was for weapons.
The visit also provided an opportunity to realign perceptions of power in the region. Trump's predecessor Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from Saudi Arabia, by working with Iran as a regional leader. As a long-time critic of Iran, Trump is looking to reverse that policy.
But it was his speech, addressing the Muslim world, at the Arab Islamic American summit, that was most widely anticipated - a world he'd been strongly critical of during his election campaign.
Now he was urging Muslim leaders to share the burden in defeating those he described as Islamist extremists, saying a better future was only possible if they helped "drive out the terrorists".
He stuck to the speech written by his Senior Adviser Stephen Miller. But was the overture from Trump genuine?
Presenter: Richelle Carey
Guests:
Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Alibrahim, a Saudi affairs specialist
Henri Barkey, Director of the Middle East Program at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Sadegh Zibakalam, Professor of Political Science at the University of Tehran
A business deal worth 350billion dollars was signed between the United States and Saudi Arabia - about one-third of which was for weapons.
The visit also provided an opportunity to realign perceptions of power in the region. Trump's predecessor Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from Saudi Arabia, by working with Iran as a regional leader. As a long-time critic of Iran, Trump is looking to reverse that policy.
But it was his speech, addressing the Muslim world, at the Arab Islamic American summit, that was most widely anticipated - a world he'd been strongly critical of during his election campaign.
Now he was urging Muslim leaders to share the burden in defeating those he described as Islamist extremists, saying a better future was only possible if they helped "drive out the terrorists".
He stuck to the speech written by his Senior Adviser Stephen Miller. But was the overture from Trump genuine?
Presenter: Richelle Carey
Guests:
Robert Jordan, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Alibrahim, a Saudi affairs specialist
Henri Barkey, Director of the Middle East Program at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Sadegh Zibakalam, Professor of Political Science at the University of Tehran
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