The White House said, regional security and key bilateral issues were spoke between US President Donald Trump and Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

On Thursday in a readout the White House said, “President Trump thanked King Salman for his leadership and expressed his optimism towards resolving the Gulf Rift”.

Trump made a late call when he is set to depart office on January 20 and President-elect Joe Biden will be officially sworn-in.

Trump has refused to admit defeat, claiming that his losing to Biden was rigged.

A NBC News report said that, there was a stable relationship between the US and Saudi during Trump’s administration. Trump developed Saudi Arabia right from the start and positioned the kingdom in the mid of his Middle East policy, supporting its standpoint against Iran and encouraging procurement of US-made weapons.

However, Biden has claimed to re-evaluate the US links with the oil-rich kingdom, and Saudi Arabia is may face less privileged and personal relationship with the Biden administration, the report said.

Trump supported Saudi Arabia, even after the CIA claimed that the crown prince gave orders for killing  Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, in Istanbul in October 2018, the report stated.

On the orders of the crown prince Khashoggi was murdered, Biden believes describing Saudi Arabia as a “pariah”.

Selling of weapons to Riyadh will be stopped by Biden and he promised to defend the rights of political dissidents around the world, the report said.