Trump administration better than Obama’s: Shaikh Khalid

Manama : Donald Trump administration is better in dealing with Gulf issues than Obama’s, Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa has stated.

“US President Donald Trump understood the region and the threats posed by their common adversary Iran better than Barack Obama,” the minister told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. 

“We are confident the new administration would soon clarify its stances on foreign policy. We see a much clearer understanding from the White House of the threats we are facing here in the region and especially the ones that are coming from the Islamic Republic. The last few years, there was a policy that we think it was better for them to correct, and we advised them it should be corrected,” Shaikh Khalid said.

Shaikh Khalid said the Kingdom welcomed a decision by the White House to approve a $5 billion sale of 19 Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft and related equipment which was held up last year.

“Trump’s style may have distracted some from the merits of his views, but all administrations had growing pains. They’ll get in order. Every new administration will always start in a way that will seem unclear, but clarity is coming. Maybe when you see the difference in the personality of the president, maybe that’s kind of giving an overwhelming picture of the situation. Things are working in America,” Shaikh Khalid told Reuters.

Speaking on human rights violations claims in Bahrain raised by some international organisations, the foreign minister said, “We feel like we are being pressured and punished for no reason, just for sticking our neck out and addressing issues that every country has.”