Wajahat: Mustafa, I think we can agree that one consistency for a thoroughly inconsistent Trump presidency is his love affair for authoritarian leaders: Erdogan in Turkey, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Egypt, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines, and now the Saudi royal family.

This is, I believe, one of the most troubling aspects of this speech and the shift in American policy under Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — a complete abandoning of even paying lip service to civil liberties, free press, human rights. Our foreign policy no longer seems guided by even the pretense of these American values. We know that governments like Saudi Arabia and Egypt use terrorism as an excuse to crack down on all opposition and political participation. (Look at the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, for example.) And we know that a lack of economic opportunities, political freedoms and human rights are what create conditions for extremism to thrive in Middle East. Oh, the irony!

Mustafa: That is all true. But to his credit, Trump put this realpolitik in an acceptable format: “We are not here to lecture.” That sounds good to a lot of people in the Middle East. Sometimes Western preaching of human rights, when it’s wrapped up in self-righteousness, can backfire.

Still, the current alternative — a United States that says, “I don’t care about what autocracies do to their people, as long as they serve my interests” — is really bad for the world. It is even bad for the United States’ interests in the long run.

Wajahat: Trump said he was in Saudi Arabia to “offer partnership based on shared interests and values.” Well, what do you see as the shared interests and values for the United States and the Saudis since we seem to agree that clearly it isn’t human rights?

Mustafa: The “shared interests and values” in this case seem to be twofold: Let’s fight the terrorists, like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. And let’s do business. None of these are wrong, of course. But there is also the problem of human rights violations in regimes such as that of Saudi Arabia — or Egypt, or elsewhere. As I understand, Trump’s message is, “we don’t care about that part.” But is this what the United States really stands for? It is up to the American people, of course, but I would hope to see some more aspiration to help make the world a better place.