President Trump issued a bold defense of Saudi Arabia and its leaders on Tuesday, saying Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman may be innocent of ordering the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
The president was set to be briefed Tuesday on a CIA assessment that reportedly determined the crown prince ordered the journalist’s Oct. 2 murder in Istanbul. In an unusual White House statement Tuesday afternoon that featured eight exclamation points, Trump wrote, “America First! The world is a very dangerous place!”, before launching into a broad defense of the Saudis.
The statement, issued as White House reporters prepared for Trump’s ceremonial turkey pardon in the Rose Garden, embraced doubt about the prince’s role, as Saudi officials deny he ordered the murder, which Turkish authorities say was performed inside a Saudi consulate by a bone-saw equipped hit squad.
Trump said “the crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one” but that “we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder,” despite links between the prince and members of the 15-man group that traveled to Turkey aboard Saudi government aircraft to participate in the killing.
“Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an ‘enemy of the state’ and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that — this is an unacceptable and horrible crime,” Trump said.
“King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” he said.
It’s not the first time Trump has publicly expressed doubt about the findings of U.S. spy agencies. Most famously, during a July press conference in Finland he appeared to accept Russian President Vladimir Putin’s denial of responsibility for hacking Democrats in 2016. Trump later said he misspoke.
Trump previously threatened consequences if Saudi leaders were determined to be involved in the killing, but also said repeatedly he did not want to end multibillion-dollar U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. In his statement, Trump emphasized the relationship between nations, rather than between the U.S. and the crown prince.
“In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel, and all other partners in the region,” he said.
The unusual statement, which notes new sanctions against 17 Saudis believed to be linked to the murder, includes various dubious factual claims.
[Opinion: US failed to push Saudi Arabia on previous abuses; now for the consequences]
“Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave,” Trump claimed, although publicly reported ties between Shiite Houthi rebels in Yemen and Iran are tenuous, with reporting focusing on arms transfers, rather than Iranian boots on the ground.
Trump wrote that Iran, not Saudi Arabia, “is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen,” despite a Saudi-led coalition directly causing thousands of civilian deaths and indirectly putting millions at risk of starvation.
Trump also inaccurately claimed that Iran-allied Syrian President Bashar Assad “has killed millions of his own citizens,” when a long-running civil war has actually claimed the lives of far fewer than 1 million people, according to estimates.
Read the full statement below.
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Statement from President Donald J. Trump on Standing with Saudi Arabia
America First!
The world is a very dangerous place!
The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Iran is considered “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.”
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism.
After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries — and very happy to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!
The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone. Indeed, we have taken strong action against those already known to have participated in the murder. After great independent research, we now know many details of this horrible crime. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body.
Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an “enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that – this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!
That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. In any case, our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!
I understand there are members of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction – and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America. After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world. As President of the United States I intend to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very simply it is called America First!
