MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Trump blasts Saudi Arabia for making 'a billion a day' and funding terrorism

Saudi Arabia should be paying the US because it wouldn’t exist without US support, said presidential hopeful Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump backed the commitment of ground troops if necessary to cripple the Islamic State and complained the US has always come out in support of Saudi Arabia, and while they make 'a billion a day', they are also the world's biggest funder of terrorism.

 If president “I would take away the IS wealth” by reclaiming oil fields the group has commandeered. When told that would take ground troops, Trump replied, “That’s OK.”

Trump described his ideas about oil and the IS, and how to secure US borders during a wide-ranging Sunday interview on NBC’s Meet The Press

Trump has repeatedly accused Saudi Arabia of being the world’s biggest funder of terrorism and during the interview he said the Gulf nation should be paying the US because it wouldn’t exist without US support. He added ”the only reason the US supports Saudi Arabia is because it needs the oil”.

“Now, we don’t need the oil so much,” he said in an apparent reference to US oil and gas production. “And if we let our people really go, we wouldn’t need the oil at all. And we could let everybody else fight it out.”

Trump said Saudi Arabia is going to need help fighting against the kinds of militants who have targeted neighboring Yemen. He said he would assist the Saudis in that event, albeit reluctantly and for a price.

“We defend Saudi Arabia. We send our ships. We send our planes. Every time there’s a little ruckus, we send those ships and those planes. We get nothing. Why? They’re making a billion a day. We get nothing. And this is the problem with the world,” he underlined.

The Republican candidate also pounded on what has become his favorite theme, illegal immigration which according to opinion polls has ballooned him ahead of all other presidential hopefuls.

Besides plans to complete a wall along the US-Mexico border, Trump also wants to end “birthright citizenship” for the children of immigrants living in the US illegally. He would rescind Obama administration executive orders on immigration and toughen deportation, allowing in only “the good ones.”

“They have to go,” Trump said, adding: “what they’re doing, they’re having a baby. And then all of a sudden, nobody knows ... the baby’s here.”

Native-born children of immigrants — even those living illegally in the US — have been automatically considered American citizens since the adoption of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution in 1868.

“They’re illegal,” Trump said, describing native-born children of people living illegally in the US. “You either have a country or not.”

In an immigration policy paper, Trump said he would increase fees on temporary visas for Mexican chief executives, diplomats and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) workers if Mexico does not agree to pay for the wall.

Trump said he would also impound all remittance payments derived from illegal wages and increase fees at ports of entry from Mexico. Foreign aid cuts and tariffs would also be considered.