--- title: Donald Trump Condemned Saudi Arabia During Presidential Race description: President Trump is set to go to Saudi Arabia, a nation he's previously condemned for treating women like "slaves" and wanting to "kill gays" canonical: https://time.com/4785714/donald-trump-saudi-arabia/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-19T12:28:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T05:01:01.931Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Is Headed to Saudi Arabia. He Once Said It Wants 'Women as Slaves' og:description: President Trump is set to go to Saudi Arabia, a nation he's previously condemned for treating women like "slaves" and wanting to "kill gays" og:url: https://time.com/4785714/donald-trump-saudi-arabia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c2937bf5a750c71/6988cd6b86f68e136f6e4b3e/gettyimages-653337722.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Has Lunch With Saudi Deputy Crown Prince And Defense Minister og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Is Headed to Saudi Arabia. He Once Said It Wants 'Women as Slaves' twitter:description: President Trump is set to go to Saudi Arabia, a nation he's previously condemned for treating women like "slaves" and wanting to "kill gays" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4c2937bf5a750c71/6988cd6b86f68e136f6e4b3e/gettyimages-653337722.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Is Headed to Saudi Arabia. He Once Said It Wants 'Women as Slaves and to Kill Gays'  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 19, 2017 12:28 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the Oval Office at the White House, March 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the Oval Office at the White House, March 14, 2017 in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson May 19, 2017 12:28 PM UTC As [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4783929/president-trump-loyalty-test/) takes off on his [first foreign trip](http://time.com/4785623/trump-foreign-trip-europe-middle-east/?xid=homepage) in office, he’s set to go to [Saudi Arabia](http://time.com/4784027/president-trump-foreign-trip/?xid=homepage), a nation he’s previously condemned for treating women like “slaves” and wanting to “kill gays.” “Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays,” Trump wrote in a [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/DonaldTrump/posts/10157164318560725) in June 2016 during the presidential campaign. “Hillary must return all money from such countries!” During a presidential debate Trump also said Saudis were “people that push gays off buildings” and “kill women and treat women horribly,” [according to the Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/19/trump-once-denounced-saudi-arabia-as-extremist-now-hes-heading-there-to-promote-moderate-islam/?utm%5Fterm=.6872a434b956). He has also claimed the Saudi government had ties to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. But Trump has moderated his tone since he became President. He met Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in March and has spoken to King Salman on the phone. And he will arrive in Saudi Arabia with a gift to cement the friendship — a massive [package of weapons deals](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-saudi-idUSKBN18832N). “I don’t think the Saudis are alarmed by the way Trump is behaving or his past remarks,” Toby Craig Jones, a historian at Rutgers closely studying Saudi Arabia, [told](http://time.com/4778549/saudi-arabia-donald-trump-visit/?iid=sr-link8) TIME’s Jared Malsin. “I think they see this as an opportunity to roll back the clock a little bit. I think they see him as a moldable character.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4785714/donald-trump-saudi-arabia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4785714/donald-trump-saudi-arabia/"},"headline":"President Trump Is Headed to Saudi Arabia. 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