Economist Steve Hanke said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman forced President Donald Trump to abandon planned strikes on Iran by threatening to unload the kingdom’s U.S. Treasury holdings.
Hanke Claims Saudi Threat Changed Trump’s Course
"I spoke with Mario Nawfal about reports that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman FORCED Trump to BACK OFF," Hanke wrote on X, calling a potential bond sale "a credible threat."
A professor of applied economics and co-director of Johns Hopkins research institute, Hanke said U.S. attacks could have triggered Iranian retaliation against Saudi Aramco and worsened an energy shock. "If Trump had proceeded with what would have probably been war crimes, Iran would have COUNTERATTACKED," he said. "The counterattack could have crippled Aramco and thrown global energy markets into chaos."
The Strait of Hormuz blockade has disrupted a waterway that handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies before the war. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser has warned that the disruption could delay the energy market’s recovery until 2027.
