US President Donald Trump has vetoed Congressional decisions to block multi-billion dollar arms deals with Saudi Arabia and other allies. Trump vetoed yesterday (local time) to allow for arms shipments totaling $ 8.1 billion (€ 7.2 billion). He vetoed it for the third time in his term.
The US government had bypassed Congress in May in a rare move to authorize the sale of weapons, ammunition, equipment and maintenance hours for aircraft to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the deal was urgently needed because of the activities of Saudi Arabia’s archenemy Iran.
Resolutions against armament deals
But bypassing the congress was met with sharp criticism from parliamentarians, senators and senators – including in the ranks of Trump’s Republicans. It is also feared that arms shipments could further fuel the Yemen war.
For this reason, both the Republican-dominated US Senate and the opposition-controlled Democratic House of Representatives passed resolutions to block arms deals. The Chambers again went on a confrontational course with Trump. It had been assumed, however, that the president would use his right of veto.
