During his presidential campaign, Trump called Saudi prince and magnate Alwaleed bin Talal "dopey" and accused him of trying to control American politicians "with daddy's money." Trump blamed the Saudis for the September 11th attacks, and said the Kingdom does not pay for the vital support it gets from the United States. But now with a major arms deal in the in works and Trump's imminent arrival, Saudi Arabia is promoting its counterterror efforts.Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United Nations,
Abdullah Almouallimi, joined by the Ministry of Interior's Lt. Col. Khalid Alzahrani, outlined in Washington the Kingdom's approaches to terrorism. They positioned Saudi Arabia as a victim of terrorism, and a critical partner in the global efforts to defeat it. Beginning with the 1979 attack on the Grand Mosque in Mecca, and specifically pointing to the 2004 deadly attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Alzahrani said that Saudi Arabia had stopped 229 of 335 attempted terrorist attacks inside the country, mostly by suicide belts and bombings.