Former Vice President Mike Pence lightly criticized President Trump in an interview that aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday over at least one aspect of his trip to the Middle East this week, saying he's "never been a fan of American presidents criticizing America on foreign soil."
"To have the president in Saudi Arabia questioning America's global war on terror, and describing it as nation-building and interventionist, I thought was a disservice to generations of Americans who wore the uniform and who took the fight to our enemy, you know, in Afghanistan and in Iraq," Pence told NBC’s Kristen Welker. "And particularly giving that speech in Saudi Arabia, where 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers hailed from — not including Osama bin Laden, I thought was unfortunate."
Trump traveled to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to highlight business deals with the Gulf countries.
During a stinging speech in the Saudi capital of Riyad on Tuesday, Trump denounced American intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan and praised Saudi Arabia other countries that he said prospered without help from the U.S.
"The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neocons or liberal nonprofits like those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul, Baghdad, so many other cities," Trump said. "Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been brought by the people of the region themselves. The people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions and charting your own destinies in your own way."
"It's really incredible what you've done," he added.
Trump's remarks drew rebuke from some 9/11 victims' families. The Saudi Arabian government denies any involvement in the deadly terrorist attacks two decades ago, but the country is thought to have played at least a complicit role.
Trump also heaped praise on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the U.S. government has determined ordered the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
"He's an incredible man. I've known him a long time now. There's nobody like him," Trump said of bin Salman. "I like him a lot. I like him too much."
Pence, who had a falling out with Trump over the then-vice president's role in the certification of the 2020 presidential election and the ensuing Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, couched his critique of Trump's Middle East visit, describing it as a "very successful trip for the American economy."
"The president secured financial commitments in all three countries, including a historic contract for purchasing Boeing aircraft that'll really support American jobs," the former Indiana governor said.
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