Saudi Arabia has made more arrests, expanded the ongoing corruption investigation, and frozen hundreds more bank accounts in the ongoing efforts of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman toward reform efforts in the kingdom.

U.S. President Trump stands solidly behind the efforts of King Salman and the Crown Prince while the U.S. State Department, full of Muslim Brotherhood sympathizers and containing multiple indulgent beneficiaries of much of the prior corrupt Saudi spending, is aligned with Deep State against the new approach by the Kingdom.
According to Reuters reports the number of domestic bank accounts frozen as a result of the purge is over 1,700 and rising, up from 1,200 reported on Tuesday.

[…] Anti-corruption authorities have also frozen the bank accounts of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, one of the most senior members of the ruling Al Saud, and some of his immediate family members, the sources added.

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The leftist deep-state apologist side of political narrative building are selling a story of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a comparative persona to the DPRK’s Kim Jong-un.  However, a more accurate analysis might pose the question: is Robert Mueller the U.S. Jeffersonian version of Saudi’s Crown Prince?
Time will tell.  Indeed, time will tell:

DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabian banks have frozen more than 1,200 accounts belonging to individuals and companies in the kingdom as part of the government’s anti-corruption purge, bankers and lawyers said on Tuesday.
They added that the number is continuing to rise.
Dozens of royal family members, officials and business executives have been detained in the crackdown and are facing allegations of money laundering, bribery, extorting officials and taking advantage of public office for personal gain.

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President Trump has tweeted support for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s version of the BIG UGLY.   Fortunately for the KSA’s primary political architect, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, affectionately known as “MBS”, he can act unilaterally to remove the corrupt.

Here’s some recent actions that guide an understanding of the Saudi events.
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Against the backdrop of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, conducting a massive sweep of corrupt Saudi officials, President Trump and King Salman release a readout of their phone call:

WHITE HOUSE – President Donald J. Trump spoke yesterday with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. King Salman expressed his condolences for the recent terrorist attack in New York City. President Trump thanked the King for his support and emphasized Americas commitment to defeating ISIS.
The leaders also discussed the continuing threat of Iranian-backed Houthi militias in Yemen and last nights intercepted missile attack on Riyadh. They emphasized the importance of countering extremist ideologies and championing moderation and tolerance. (more…)

Major developments happening in Saudi Arabia including the arrest of former King Abdallah chief of staff, prince Al Walid Bin Talal, and heads of the main three Saudi owned television stations.  Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Trump ally) leads the way:

Eleven princes, four sitting ministers and ‘tens’ of former ministers have been arrested on orders from the new anti-corruption committee headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Saturday evening according to sources. (LINK)

NOTE: It’s important to understand the use of the word “corruption” as it pertains to the domestic consumption of news in KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia).  In these examples, “corruption” is expressed as self-interested financial corruption as in: ‘activity against the people’.  However, within KSA politics, adverse political action targeted against the state is framed as ‘corruption’ through internal broadcast.

President Trump, May 2017: “Drive Them Out” … “Our goal is a coalition of nations who share the aim of stamping out extremism and providing our children a hopeful future that does honor to God.”

I’ll outline some recent actions we’ve been tracking that will highlight today’s events, and yet encapsulate some larger issues.  It is critically important to remember, KSA is in a state of realignment away from extremism –REMINDER– and President Trump has committed his support to the reform agents King Salman, and more importantly, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the future leader of Saudi Arabia.   You can easily connect-the-dots.
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While the general position will be to applaud President Trump and CIA Director Mike Pompeo for their commitment to transparency, CTH considers the release against the backdrop of the Trump Doctine.
Right before President Trump heads off to Asia for an extremely important economic and national security visit with wide-ranging implications; and knowing the larger adversarial economic geography surrounding China and their allies (hint, Pakistan); and knowing the Indo-Pacific engagement strategy carried by Trump and Tillerson; and knowing the Trump doctrine is based on brutally righteous sunlight and leverage upon various international deceptions therein… the CIA releases 470k files on the Bin Laden raid highlighting the duplicity between Pakistan and terrorists.

CIA Abbottabad Compound Material –  In an effort to further enhance public understanding of al-Qa’ida, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on 1 November 2017 released additional materials recovered in the 2 May 2011 raid on Usama Bin Ladin’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
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Today the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, son of King Salman, ally to U.S. President Trump, guardian of the Holy Mosques, delivered remarks during a conference on investment that stunned the regional geopolitical world.
Of course for most CTH readers, who understood the larger dynamic behind Trump and T-Rex’s sword dancing diplomacy, this doesn’t come as a surprise. However, for the larger U.S. electorate, perhaps they will begin to understand the positive consequences downstream from President Trump’s regional policy.
The scale of consequence was clearly evident in the expression of Maria Bartiromo.

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Five months ago we discussed the significance of the pageantry and scale of the royal reception for President Trump and the U.S. delegation.  Specifically how the structure of the trip was reflective of much more than a singular presidential visit to a nation and region of geo-strategic importance.
The word “reset” is frequent amid media reporting of the Saudi trip but few people have followed the recent regional history to thoroughly understand what exactly is being reset.
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Panda Reacts To Finding Lion Tracks Amid Shrinking Bamboo Forest !

A Chinese central planner, Zhang Yong, the vice-head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), made a statement today (during the communist party congress) that carries much more significance than most people recognize.

The statement was made on behalf of communist China’s central planners and is directed toward what sectors of their economy they will focus investment (emphasis mine).

BEIJING (Reuters) – China will introduce measures aimed at guiding private investment into areas that have a higher growth potential, a senior official with the state planning agency said on Saturday.
China also would take steps to lower the investment threshold for private investors, said Zhang Yong, the vice-head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), during a briefing on the sidelines of China’s Communist Party Congress.
The manufacturing industry as well as the property market, which have been driving private investment, are now quite weak, Zhang said.
“Now we want to attract investment in sectors with growth potential such as subway projects.” (link)

Notice two key points: #1 forecast growth in manufacturing is seen as “quite weak”, and #2 they are shifting toward building their own domestic transportation infrastructure.
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Just because western media doesn’t understand how President Trump executes a geopolitical strategy based on economic leverage, that doesn’t mean adversaries are not fully aware of the effectiveness of the approach.
The Trump Doctrine has two avenues toward dealing with national security adversaries.
The first route is direct assignment of responsibility toward the enablers: see China for North Korea; The Gulf States for Qatar (Sunni extremism); Russia for Syrian terrorism (Assad); and Pakistan for Afghanistan (Taliban); as recent examples.

However, when the geopolitical threat stems directly from the enabler, and not the enabled, the Trump Doctrine has a distinctly different and far more encompassing, approach.  Route two goes through leveraging regional allies and partners: See ASEAN and India for ¹China; and France, Poland, Baltic States for ²Russia.  And now President Trump is beginning to shift toward ³Iran.
In each case: China, Russia and Iran, unlike Western media, these powers assemble volumes of research to assist them in understanding the most likely sequence of events President Trump will take.
When we say volumes of research, we indeed mean hundreds of people researching and drafting position documents based upon every scintilla of every deal Donald J Trump has engaged in.  No expenses are spared as these state actors assemble information toward their own strategy to counter the most unpredictable adversary they have faced.
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Some people might remember a specific and strategic Trumpian approach toward social reform in Saudi Arabia which was highlighted by Rex Tillerson during his senate confirmation hearings.  WATCH AGAIN (prompted to 06:09 – just hit play):

Secretary Tillerson’s explanation of the Trump administration position was then followed by the respectful administration strategy during their Saudi visit.  First-Lady Melania Trump figured prominently in that strategy during the February delegation visit.
Well, today:

RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Saudi King Salman on Tuesday ordered that women be allowed to drive cars, ending a conservative tradition seen by rights activists as an emblem of the Islamic kingdom’s repression of women.
The kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, has been widely criticized for being the only country in the world that bans women from driving, despite gradual improvement on some women’s issues in recent years and ambitious government targets to increase their public role, especially in the workforce.

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