Qatar, North Korea on agenda for Trump's Kuwait meeting

Qatar, North Korea on agenda for Trump's Kuwait meeting
Kuwait's Emir and US President Donald Trump are likely to discuss the Qatar rift and North Korea during their meeting in Washington on Thursday.
1 min read
07 September, 2017
Trump and Kuwait's Emir previously met in Riyadh in May [File photo: Getty]
President Donald Trump is meeting with the leader of Kuwait, a staunch US ally trying to mediate a diplomatic crisis involving Qatar and its Arab neighbours.

Trump's White House meeting with Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah comes as Trump has sent conflicting signals about where he stands on the dispute.

Trump initially appeared to side with Saudi Arabia, but then he instructed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to support the Kuwaiti mediation effort.

The dispute has dragged even after Tillerson and other US diplomats have shuttled through the region to bolster the Kuwaiti initiative.

At the meeting, Trump is also expected to discuss efforts to further isolate North Korea by pressing countries to stop employing North Korean guest workers. Some 6,000 North Koreans work in Kuwait.