After ‘betrayal’, Trump holds cards on prince

Washington: The killing of a journalist has abruptly transformed Saudi Arabia’s crown prince from a partner to a liability in the eyes of Washington – which nonetheless now enjoys more leverage over the ambitious heir apparent.

President Donald Trump had enthusiastically endorsed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s consolidation of power, with the 33-year-old forging a close, chatty relationship with Trump’s son-inlaw and adviser Jared Kushner.

But amid outrage after Saudi Arabia admitted that US-based journalist and palace critic Jamal Khashoggi was murdered inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate, the president has sounded betrayed and taken the initial step of restricting visas to Saudis involved in the killing.

Trump, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Wednesday, insulated 82-year-old King Salman from blame but pointedly did not shield the crown prince, known by his initials MBS.

“The crown prince – he’s running things, and so if anybody were going to be in, it would be him,” Trump said.

While defending arms sales to Saudi Arabia on business grounds, Trump said: “Don’t forget, if it wasn’t for us, it could very well be that Saudi Arabia wouldn’t last very long.”

Martin Indyk, a top Middle East policymaker under former president Bill Clinton, said Trump had in effect tried to subcontract policy in the region to Saudi Arabia and Israel as he lessens US commitments.

But Indyk said Prince Mohammed had instead brought headaches for Washington – not only Khashoggi’s killing but Yemen, where the United States is backing a Saudi-led bombing campaign against Houthi rebels allegedly supported by Riyadh’s regional rival Iran.

The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 14 million people facing famine and about 10,000 people killed.

“Mohammed bin Salman needs Trump -- his very survival depends on Trump working with him,” said Indyk, now at the Council on Foreign Relations.

“So we have the opportunity – if we decide we’re not going to ask the king to remove him discreetly – to... sit down with him and say, listen, we can’t go on like this,” Indyk said.

“But I don’t think Trump has any concept of the need to do that – let alone how to do that – and therefore I fear that Mohammed bin Salman will survive but he will continue on the path that only advantages Iran and gets the United States continuously into trouble,” he said. — AFP