Saudi King congratulates Donald Trump on victory

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz telephoned US President-elect Donald Trump yesterday to congratulate him on his victory against Hillary Clinton in the US presidential elections.

During the telephone conversation, King Salman confirmed Saudi Arabia’s aspiration to continue to develop and promote the decades-long historical and strategic relations that it has had with the United States.

King Salman pledged to work with Donald Trump to “bring peace and stability to the Middle East and the world.”

The Saudi Arabian monarch also wished the American people further progress and prosperity under Trump’s leadership. During the phone conversation, both expressed mutual willingness to work together and to secure each other’s interests in the region.

Trump’s comments come following what some have perceived to be as a vitriolic anti-Muslim campaign, with occasional Twitter duels with members of the Saudi Arabian royal family.

In response to the president-elect’s frequent disparaging remarks about Muslims, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal notably told Trump that he had bailed him out “twice”. Trump also told the Saudi prince, one of the world’s richest billionaires, that he was reliant on “daddy’s money”.

Donald Trump won the US elections yesterday and will soon become the United States’ 45th president, triumphing over Clinton with a tally of 276 electoral college votes versus the former Secretary of State’s 218.