On Tuesday, President Trump issued a written statement responding to the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi – a U.S. resident who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on the order of the Saudi government. Trump defended a continuation of business as usual with the Saudi crown prince, who was specifically implicated in the murder by a CIA investigation.
It began with an ominous “America First!” followed by “The world is a dangerous place!” and continued with exclamation points. He could have used far fewer than his 600 some words to make his point: the U.S. wouldn’t be going after the crown prince and, as far as Trump was concerned, as long as Saudi Arabia wasn’t Iran and continued to buy U.S. weapons, it could do what it pleased.
Those remarks, for perhaps too transparently placing the White House’s transactional approach to foreign relations over a semblance of values, or just old-fashioned indefensibility, went considerably too far for Republicans in the Senate.
Responding to the statement on Tuesday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., described the government defended by Trump as “beyond toxic” saying, “I firmly believe there will be strong bipartisan support for serious sanctions against Saudi Arabia, including appropriate members of the royal family, for this barbaric act which defied all civilized norms.” He added, “While Saudi Arabia is a strategic ally, the behavior of the crown prince – in multiple ways – has shown disrespect for the relationship and made him, in my view, beyond toxic.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offered pointed criticism on Twitter:
I never thought I’d see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. https://t.co/MQ4JsoQtqk
— Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) November 20, 2018
Corker, along with the ranking Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez, backed up the words with actions, sending President Trump a letter asking for a determination of the crown prince’s culpability under the Global Magnitsky Act. That request would force Trump to determine if Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s killing and report that finding and any sanctions within 120 days. That would prevent the president from glossing over directly implicating the crown prince, as he did with wishy-washy phrasing in his statement “it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., also pledged action. The longtime opponent of ongoing Saudi arms deals said that he would “continue to press for legislation to stop the Saudi arms sales and the war in Yemen.”
Those are laudable words from America’s senators. For them to have meaning, however, they must be backed up with actions.
Graham must push the Senate to take on the unsavory relationship between the White House and Saudi Arabia. Corker must be unwavering is his demand for a response to the Magnitsky letter and Paul must get another vote on arms deals supplying Saudi Arabia and its allies – and this time, the Senate would do well to support his legislation. Just last week, a vote that would have curtailed the sale of rockets to Saudi ally Bahrain, failed.
And the stakes are much larger than just an embarrassing, mealy mouth statement from the president.
Sen.-elect Mitt Romney, R-Utah, perhaps laid it out most clearly, saying, “America can’t excuse and minimize the brutal & gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi a US resident & columnist. Our country is defined by human values, by principle above convenience, & by commitment to morality.”
He’s right. America is more than its money. Tossing our ideas and values out the window to safeguard American financial interests in arms deals leaves Washington empty handed, having left all that defined the United States on the table.
If leadership representing those values will not come from the White House, then it can come from the Republicans in the Senate. They’re off to a good start, but their words on Tuesday must be backed up by actions.
