Trump: I Told Saudi King He Won’t Last Without U.S. ‘Protection’

President Trump claims he once warned Saudi Arabia’s King Salman that he wouldn’t last in power without help from the U.S. Speaking to a crowd of supporters at a rally in Mississippi on Tuesday night, Trump said, “We protect Saudi Arabia… And I love the king, King Salman. But I said, ‘King, we’re protecting you, you might not be there for two weeks without us. You have to pay for your military.’” He did not say when he issued the warning, but the two had a phone conversation on Saturday in which they discussed oil-market stability and global economic growth, according to Saudi media. The president complained about the U.S. supposedly “subsidizing” Saudi Arabia’s military at a rally in West Virginia that same day.