Trump won’t cast off Saudi Arabia alliance
His hope: Rulers didn’t know of apparent killing
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would not rupture America’s long-standing alliance with Saudi Arabia over the disappearance and possible murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi despite mounting international and domestic pressure.
“We’re not going to walk away from Saudi Arabia,” Trump told Fox Business Network. “I don’t want to do that.”
Trump implied that only if the top echelon of Saudi Arabia’s royal family were implicated would he find it nec- essary to punish the country.
“I hope that the king and the crown prince didn’t know about it. That’s a big factor in my eyes,” Trump said.
Before a meeting with his Cabinet secretaries in the Oval Office, Trump emphasized Saudi Arabia’s importance as a U.S. ally. He questioned the existence of audio and video record-
ings that Turkish officials said implicate Saudi Arabia in Khashoggi’s killing.
Yeni Safak, a pro-government Turkish newspaper, reported Wednesday that on an audio recording, Saudi Consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi can be heard telling people torturing Khashoggi, “Do this outside; you’re going to get me in trouble.” The newspaper said one of the torturers replied, “Shut up if you want to live when you return to (Saudi) Arabia.”
“We have asked for it, if it exists,” Trump said about the tapes. “I’m not sure yet that it exists, probably does, possibly does.”
Asked why he hadn’t sent the FBI to help the Turkish government with the investigation, Trump responded, “Well, he wasn’t a citizen of this country for one thing.” Khashoggi was a permanent U.S. resident.
“I want to find out what happened – where is the fault,” Trump said. “And we will probably know that by the end of the week.”
Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called Khashoggi’s disappearance “a big deal” and said the Justice Department was “seriously evaluating” a possible role in the investigation.
Sunday, Trump threatened Saudi Arabia with “severe punishment” if the country was found responsible for Khashoggi’s death.
The Saudi journalist, who wrote critically of the kingdom and royal family for The Washington Post, has been missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain paperwork to marry his fiancee. Turkish officials said he was murdered inside the building, but Saudi officials strenuously denied that.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo completed a series of hastily arranged meetings in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to confront the escalating diplomatic crisis stemming from Khashoggi’s disappearance. Trump administration officials have cultivated close ties to Saudi regime and consider the U.S. ally a key partner in their efforts to isolate Iran.
In Riyadh, Pompeo met with Saudi King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler. Trump said he sent Pompeo “to get to the bottom” of the Khashoggi case.
Pompeo said the Saudis promised a full and “transparent investigation” and pledged to make “no exceptions on who they would hold accountable,” including members of the governing royal family.
“It’s reasonable to give them a handful of days more to complete (their investigation), so they get it right,” he said. “That’s what they’ve indicated they need, and then we’ll get to see it.”
He promised to evaluate the Saudi inquiry on “a factual straight-up basis.”
Pompeo expressed reluctance to jeopardize U.S. ties with the Saudis.
“The Saudis have been great partners in working alongside us” on Iran and other issues, he said. “We need to make sure that we’re mindful of that.”
Trump has made Saudi Arabia a centerpiece of his Middle East policy, analysts said. He sees the country as a check on Iranian ambitions, a guarantor of stable oil prices and a possible supporter of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
“It’s all magical thinking,” said Aaron David Miller, who was a State Department Middle East adviser under presidents of both parties. Nevertheless, Trump is protective of his Saudi allies, he said.
Miller said Trump made Saudi Arabia his first foreign trip, a heavily promoted visit organized in part by sonin-law and top adviser Jared Kushner. The Saudi hosts feted Trump during events ranging from a lavish banquet to sword dancing.
John Brennan, CIA director under President Barack Obama and a fierce critic of Trump, told NBC’s “Today” show that Saudi leaders probably knew the hit would happen and thought they could get away with it because of their ties to Trump.
Lawmakers in both parties pressured Trump to be more aggressive in his response, some suggesting sanctions against Saudi Arabia and others threatening to block U.S. weapons sales to the country. It’s unclear whether Congress will follow through on those steps.