President Donald Trump reaffirmed his administration’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia in a statement on Tuesday, despite the confident conclusion from the U.S. intelligence community that Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of the kingdom, was responsible for the killing of dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October.
Trump made clear in a statement (titled “America First!”) that he would not seek further repercussions against the country in addition to the sanctions recently placed on 17 individuals the Saudi government has blamed for the murder. In language that can only be described as Trumpian—full of exclamation points and adverbs and describing how a crackdown on Saudi Arabia would help Russia and China as “a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!”—the president emphasized foreign policy priorities, such as countering Iran, as well as financial benefits to preserving the alliance with the kingdom and fired a warning shot at members of Congress who have urged firmer retaliation.
Trump has described the killing, which took place after Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve wedding papers on October 2, as “the worst cover-up in history,” but has refused to publicly accept the CIA’s high-confidence finding that MBS was behind it. The Washington Post reported the CIA’s assessment over the weekend.
The Post highlighted several pieces of intelligence that pointed toward MBS, including a phone call that reportedly took place between the prince’s brother—Saudi ambassador to the United States Khalid bin Salman—and Khashoggi, in which Khalid urged the Washington Post writer to go to the consulate for his required documents and told him it would be safe.
“It is not clear if Khalid knew that Khashoggi would be killed, but he made the call at his brother’s direction, according to the people familiar with the call, which was intercepted by U.S. intelligence,” the Post reported.
In his statement on Tuesday, Trump made a point to downplay the degree of certainty that the U.S. intelligence community has about the killing, suggesting that the facts of the matter may never fully be understood. “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!” Trump wrote.
“That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,” he continued. “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.”
A number of senators have asked the White House to investigate the murder to determine which Saudi officials should be sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act. Last week, Senate Foreign Relations committee chairman Bob Corker applauded the sanctioning of 17 individuals but wrote in a statement that he hoped the administration would pursue “additional action as well.”
After the Washington Post reported the CIA’s assessment, Corker wrote that “everything points to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia” ordering Khashoggi’s killing.
“The Trump administration should make a credible determination of responsibility before MBS executes the men who apparently carried out his orders,” the Tennessee Republican said.
