LF: Trump vows to stop buying Saudi oil if they don't commit troops to fight ISIS in 'America First' foreign policy

Title: Trump vows to stop buying Saudi oil if they don't commit troops to fight ISIS in 'America First' foreign policy
Source: Daily Mail Online
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art ... -commit-troops-fight-ISIS.html
Published: Mar 26, 2016
Author: Alexandra Genova For Dailymail.com
Post Date: 2016-03-27 10:05:34 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 1289
Comments: 7

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump told the New York Times he would consider stopping U.S. oil purchases from Saudi Arabia unless the Saudi government provide troops to fight Islamic State.

Trump's comment Friday was included in a lengthy foreign policy interview published by the newspaper on Saturday and came in response to a question about whether, if elected president, he would halt oil purchases from U.S. allies unless they provided on-the-ground forces against Islamic State.

Trump has said the United States should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection for, even those with vast resources such as Saudi Arabia, a top oil exporter.

'And yet, without us, Saudi Arabia wouldn't exist for very long,' Trump told the Times.

Trump also named in the interview retired Major General Gary Harrell, Major General Bert Mizusawa and retired Rear Admiral Charles Kubic as additional foreign policy advisors to the five named earlier this week who were criticized as obscure.

Trump has faced questions about his reluctance to reveal who was advising his campaign.

He told the Times he was willing to rethink traditional U.S. alliances should he become president

Trump has said the United States should be reimbursed by the countries it provides protection for, even those with vast resources such as Saudi Arabia, a top oil exporter. Pictured, Saudi King Salman

The Republican front-runner also spoke about how he believed the America has become a 'diluted power' and the country was at its peak 116 years ago at the turn of the 20th century.

He cited generals Douglas MacArthur and George S. Patton as his favorite figures in American history - although he stopped short of advocating nuclear weapons as a last resort.

Trump also did not rule out spying on American allies - including leaders like Angela Merkel - but told the newspaper that the German chancellor's handling of the migrant crisis has been poor.

He said he believed that Germany and the Gulf nations should pay for the 'safe zones' he wants to set up for refugees in Syria.

The Donald also said that he would always put America first and re-iterated what he has made clear throughout the campaign - that the country will not be 'ripped off anymore'.

About time someone started thinking that way. Sounds like a good policy to me, one we have needed for a very long time !

Whatever leverage there is in being the world's largest (or second largest) consumer should be exploited.