Trump asks Turkey for Saudi newsman video
WPresident Donald Trump says the US is asking Turkey for audio and video relating to missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi “if it exists.”
The president on Wednesday called Saudi Arabia an important ally, noting it is an important customer for U.S. military exports.
The Washington Post has published a new column by missing Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi in which he warns that governments in the Middle East “have been given free rein to continue silencing the media at an increasing rate.”
The Post published the column Wednesday, more than two weeks after Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul and only hours after a gruesome account in Turkey’s Yeni Safak newspaper alleged that
inside the consulate while
his
government, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has denied any involvement.
Turkish officials have said Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudis’ Istanbul consulate, which Khashoggi’s disappearance seriously, but Trump says he has not sent the FBI, stressing that he was not “American citizen.”
In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Trump warned against a rush to judgment, comparing condemnation of Saudi Arabia to the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
President Donald Trump has criticized rapidly mounting global condemnation of Saudi Arabia over the mystery of a missing Saudi journalist, warning of a rush to judgment and echoing the Saudis’ request for patience. - nalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudis’ Istanbul consulate. In an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Trump compared the case of Khashoggi to the allegations of sexual assault leveled against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his
Trump said, “Here we go again with, you know, you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
Trump’s remarks were his most robust defense yet of the Saudis, a U.S. ally he has made central to his Mideast agenda. The Saudis put the president at odds with other key allies and with some leaders in his Republican Party who have condemned the Saudi leadership for what they say is an obvious role in the case.