TRUMP BELIEVES SAUDI ARABIA, US LAWMAKERS ON BOTH SIDES DON’T

WASHINGTON: Keen to not derail ties, US president Donald Trump appears to have accepted the Saudi explanation of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi but many other Americans, including leading lawmakers from both parties, have expressed deep scepticism and called for an independent investigation.

“I do. I do,” Trump told reporters when asked if he found the Saudi explanation credible, but added, “It’s... again, it’s early. We haven’t finished our review or investigation. But it’s... I think it’s a very important first step, and it happened sooner than people thought it would happen.”

When pressed he said other investigations are underway too. “We are involved. Turkey is involved. And I wouldn’t say they are exactly friends,” he said.

He stressed the importance of Saudi Arabia as a “great ally” in West Asia and as a “counter-balance to Iran”. An equally major factor was the $110 billion in defence orders from the Saudis that, he said, will create one million jobs in the United States. “I’d rather keep the million jobs, and I’d rather find another solution.”

Many of Trump’s closest allies dismissed the latest claim from the Saudis. “To say that I am sceptical of the new Saudi narrative about Mr. Khashoggi is an understatement,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an adviser to the president and a frequent golfing partner, wrote on Twitter. Republican Senator Bob Corker said, “The story the Saudis have told about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance continues to change with each passing day, so we should not assume their latest story holds water.” Democratic Senator Chris Coons tweeted: “The explanation ... that he was killed in an impromptu ‘fist fight’ is not credible.”