By Gary Raynaldo     DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

 

With billions of dollars of Saudi Arabian investments on the  line, President Trump declared Tuesday he is standing with the Kingdom despite a recent CIA report implicating the country’s crown prince in the murder of  journalist Jamal Khashoggi. 

“After my heavily negotiated trip to Saudi Arabia last year, the Kingdom agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States. This is a record amount of money. It will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, tremendous economic development, and much additional wealth for the United States. Of the $450 billion, $110 billion will be spent on the purchase of military equipment from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors. If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries – and very happy to acquire all of this newfound business. It would be a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!”

President Donald Trump White House Statement Nov. 20, 2018.

The President added that “we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi. 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.”

 

CIA concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the assassination of Khashoggi

President Trump said the crime against Khashoggi was “a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone.”

U.S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Statement on Khashoggi killing and America’s foreign policy in Mid-East:

“Yeah. So it’s a mean, nasty world out there, the Middle East in particular. There are important American interests,to keep the American people safe, to protect Americans – not only Americans who are here, but Americans who are traveling and working, doing business in the Middle East. It is the President’s obligation – indeed, the State Department’s duty as well – to ensure that we adopt policies that further America’s national security.”

Secretary of State Pompeo Nov. 20, 2018 Press Conference. 

Pompeo said a lot of U.S. resources have been devoted to “determining the facts to the best of our ability to determine precisely what happened there. The United States took a very strong response. We have sanctioned 17 individuals in connection with that investigation.”

Trump’s defense of  Saudi Crown Prince sparks angry backlash

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement that Trump’s apparent decision not to punish the Saudi crown prince “is offensive to every value the United States holds dear.” Feinstein said she plans to vote against future arms sales and appropriation to Saudi Arabia, and called for sanctions against the crown prince and the removal of the Saudi ambassador to the U.S.

 

Sen. Bob Cork, R-Tenn. blasted Trump for letting the crown prince off the hook:

“I never thought I’d see the day a White House would moonlight as a public relations firm for the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.” Sen. Cork via Twitter. 

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. said:

“Great allies don’t plot the murder of journalists, Mr. President. “Great allies don’t lure their own citizens into a trap, then kill them.”  Sen. Flake Twitter