When media members attending the meeting questioned the visiting Saudi de facto ruler about his involvement in a high-profile murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, President Trump raised eyebrows by jumping to MBS’s defense and downplaying the incident.
“You’re referring to a very controversial person. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman you’re talking about. Whether you like him or not, things happen. But he didn’t know anything about it. There’s no need to embarrass our guest,” he said.
The CIA had previously concluded that MBS ordered the assassination of a journalist who had been a harsh critic of the Saudi leadership, but President Trump’s statement appeared to dismiss this fact.
In a tweet, veteran Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward recalled President Trump’s own words in a 2020 interview in which he mentioned protecting MBS from Congressional scrutiny.
“In a recorded interview on January 22, 2020, I pressed Mr. Trump about MBS’s role in Mr. Khashoggi’s murder. “I have been deeply involved,” Mr. Trump said. “I know everything about the whole situation.” So what happened? I asked. President Trump said, “I saved his a**.” “That’s what happened.” Whose a** did you save? “MBS,” President Trump said. “They came at him very hard. But I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to stop them. . . You know, I’m very friendly with those guys.” Which guys? Saudi Arabian? ‘meeting. I’m very friendly with Congress,’ President Trump said,” the journalist wrote.
The social media activist group Anonymous reminded the world of MBS’s dark cabal.
“We would like to remind you that Saudi Crown Prince MBS, President Trump’s White House guest, is not only involved in the murder of an American journalist, but is also part of the Jeffrey Epstein network,” the newspaper wrote.
DAWN Media, the nonprofit organization founded by Khashoggi and currently leading the movement for justice and accountability for his murder, released a scathing statement through executive director Sara Lee Whitson.
“President Trump sold protection to America, backed by American service members who are risking their lives to protect a reckless and impulsive dictator, all for the benefit of individuals and corporations,” Whitson said.
“While the defense industry and America’s billionaires will benefit handsomely from the gifts President Trump is offering MBS, the American people will be left paying the price. President Trump has Jamal Khashoggi’s blood on his hands,” said Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at DAWN.
Washington Post correspondent Caitlin Collins pointed out the apparent contradiction between President Trump’s defense of MBS and the findings of the US intelligence community.
“A very surprising moment in the Oval Office as President Trump claims MBS knew nothing about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, despite how the CIA under Trump learned of the Crown Prince’s orders,” she wrote in a tweet.
Human rights activist and author Kenneth Roth also criticized the US president’s stance, pointing out the seriousness of exempting MBS in the face of strong evidence against him.
“While President Trump orders the killing of people on boats in the Caribbean, we pardon (based on all evidence) the Saudi crown prince who ordered the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi,” Ross wrote.
Some expressed disbelief at the political calculation behind President Trump’s defense of MBS.
“Interesting that during Trump’s first term, the CIA held MBS responsible for Khashoggi’s murder, which Trump never disputed. Now Trump is protecting MBS because Saudi Arabia came with a gift, and his family stands to benefit,” social media user Sia wrote.
Another social media user, Lisa Erickson Murphy, pointed out the dissonance in Trump’s responses to questions about MBS and his involvement in Khashoggi’s murder.
“Mr. Trump was more upset that a reporter asked MBS about Mr. Khashoggi than he was that MBS killed Mr. Khashoggi,” she said.
Even New York-based comedian Noel Casler slammed President Trump’s negative tone.
“President Trump was more upset that a reporter asked MBS about Mr. Khashoggi than he was that MBS killed Mr. Khashoggi,” Casler tweeted.
Former diplomat Tom Malinowski highlighted undeniable intelligence findings that are in stark contrast to what President Trump said in his meeting with MBS.
“I don’t know what’s worse: dismissing the murder of a journalist as ‘something that happened,’ or saying MBS knew nothing about it.” President Trump’s own administration reported to Congress that MBS was responsible for Mr. Khashoggi’s murder,” he wrote.
Ilhan Omar, the U.S. representative for Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, said the United States “should not sell weapons to one of the world’s worst human rights violators.”
“This is no surprise. MBS should be held responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he is not welcome in a White House celebrating multibillion-dollar arms deals,” she wrote.
As described by netizens, the Oval Office meeting highlighted deep rifts in US foreign policy priorities, as economic and strategic interests took precedence over demands for justice and accountability in one of the most gruesome political murders of the past decade.
Prior to MBS’s arrival, President Trump announced that the United States planned to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, but during their Oval Office meeting, MBS pleased President Trump by saying that Saudi Arabia intended to increase its previously committed $600 billion investment in the United States to nearly $1 trillion.
MNA/Press TV