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March 28
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As the United States forced Saudi Arabia to end the oil price war with Russia, President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to Saudi leaders. 

During a phone talk with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on April 2, Trump said that if OPEC does not begin to reduce oil production, it will not be able to prevent US lawmakers from passing a law on the withdrawal of US troops from the kingdom, Reuters reported citing sources.

The threat to destroy the 75-year-old strategic alliance was at the center of a campaign to pressure Riyadh, which led to a landmark global agreement to cut oil supplies.

Trump announced told this the Crown Prince 10 days before the announcement of the reduction in production. The latter was so overwhelmed by the threat that he ordered his assistants to leave the room so that he could continue the discussion in private, the agency said.

These efforts demonstrated Trump's strong desire to protect the US oil industry from historical price drops when governments shut down economies around the world to fight the virus. They also echoed Trump's long-standing criticism of OPEC because of rising energy prices for Americans, which usually leads to higher gas prices.

A senior US official told Reuters that the administration notified Saudi leaders that, without production cuts, “there would be no way to stop the U.S. Congress from imposing restrictions that could lead to a withdrawal of U.S. forces.” The official summed up the argument, made through various diplomatic channels, as telling Saudi leaders: “We are defending your industry while you’re destroying ours.”

Reuters asked Trump about the negotiations in an interview the night before at the White House. When asked if he told the crown prince that the US could withdraw troops from Saudi Arabia, Trump replied: “I didn’t have to tell him.”

“I thought he and President Putin, Vladimir Putin, were very reasonable,” Trump said. “They knew they had a problem, and then this happened.”

A Saudi official who asked not to be named stressed that the agreement represented the will of all countries in the so-called OPEC+ group of oil-producing nations, which includes OPEC plus a coalition led by Russia.

“Saudi Arabia, the United States and Russia have played an important role in the OPEC+ oil cut agreement, but without the cooperation of the 23 countries who took part in the agreement, it would not have happened,” said the Saudi official, who declined to comment on the discussions between the US and Saudi leaders.

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