Qatar crisis looms over Trump meeting with Kuwait emir
In a quiet visit overshadowed by domestic US political turmoil, Kuwait’s emir visited the White House on Wednesday.
US President Donald Trump tried to move past the latest bombshell political book and the pitched battle over his Supreme Court nominee as he hosted Kuwait’s Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the White House today.
Even then, the low-key Oval Office meeting, billed as a friendly bridge-building exercise with the tiny oil-rich emirate, could not avoid wading into troubled political waters. Beneath the facade, the emir’s visit was largely about patching up the 15-month embargo by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates against Gulf neighbor Qatar, a crisis that Kuwait has tried to mediate.
“We are working to reach an end to the crisis in the Gulf,” Sabah said during a joint press conference with the US president.
Calling the emir “a special friend of mine” in a surprise question-and-answer session that lasted 10 minutes, Trump thanked Kuwait for investing in the United States and helping to fight terrorism. The meeting comes ahead of a possible Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) reconciliation meeting in October that will deal mainly with Iran.
