Donald Trump talks privately with Mohammed bin Salman before US election 2024

Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, and Donald Trump recently had a phone conversation, as per The New York Times.

According to the publication, it is unclear exactly what the Republican presidential candidate talked about with the prince, who is sometimes referred to as “MBS”.

It is also unclear if this was their first conversation together since the former president departed the White House in January 2021.

The Independent has inquired further about the reported discussion with His Majesty from Trump's campaign staff.

Notably, Trump had cordial ties with Saudi Arabia while in office. The trip was the first he took after entering office in 2017, and it was down in history when Trump, accompanied by King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, participated in a traditional sword dance and went viral after touching an enigmatic light orb at an exhibition centre.

After seeing MBS again in June 2019 at a G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, he also called him “a friend of mine” and praised him as “a man who has really done things in the last five years in terms of [the] opening of Saudi Arabia”.