Watch my shocked face inb4 "I got strong denials from Saudis so I believe them over my intelligence agencies" The House is going to be busy; now they've gotta add the Magnitsky Act on Saudis to an already busy schedule. Keeping an eye on oil.
Must be some record https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/17/trump-saudis-khashoggi-cia-gulen-1000487 Trump hails Saudis as 'spectacular ally' in wake of CIA Khashoggi reports By QUINT FORGEY 11/17/2018 08:45 AM EST President Donald Trump on Saturday heralded Saudi Arabia as a “spectacular ally” two days after his administration leveled sanctions against 17 Saudi officials for the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump demurred on any potential involvement by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom the CIA has concluded ordered Khashoggi’s assassination by a team of Saudi agents, according to a report first published Friday by the Washington Post. “As of this moment we were told that he did not play a role,” the president told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, before embarking to California to observe the devastation from a spate of wildfires that have torn across the state, killing more than five dozen and leaving hundreds missing. “We’re going to have to find out what they have to say.”
it feels just like yesterday Trump was banning Muslims on the excuse of terrorism https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...fing-jamal-khashoggi-murder/story?id=59265282 Trump says reports that CIA has tied Saudi prince to Khashoggi murder are 'premature' President Donald Trump said late Saturday that it's "too early" to say whether Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, and described multiple news reports saying the CIA has concluded the crown prince was directly involved as “premature.” The president said that the U.S. government will complete a “full report” by Tuesday. He denied reports saying that the CIA has concluded that the crown prince, known as MBS, ordered the killing. "They haven’t accessed anything yet -- it’s too early,” Trump said. “That was a very premature report."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/17/us/politics/trump-khashoggi-saudi-arabia.html Top White House Official Involved in Saudi Sanctions Resigns 18 WASHINGTON — A top White House official responsible for American policy toward Saudi Arabia resigned on Friday evening, a move that may suggest fractures inside the Trump administration over the response to the brutal killing of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi. The official, Kirsten Fontenrose, had pushed for tough measures against the Saudi government, and had been in Riyadh to discuss a raft of sanctions that the American government imposed in recent days against those identified as responsible for the killing, according to two people familiar with the conversations. Specifically, she advocated that Saud al-Qahtani, a top adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, be added to the list, and he ultimately was. https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-...ggi-e6a22e39-e1a7-423b-98b1-f10843dda814.html Trump's private line: Khashoggi murder "really bad" but others do it President Trump has never wanted to make a big deal out of the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the CIA reportedly has concluded was ordered by the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Behind the scenes: Trump has privately called the assassination "really bad," but immediately adds that other countries America deals with, including China, do "a lot of bad things," according to sources with direct knowledge. Trump has also privately told associates he thinks it's ridiculous that people are making so much of the Saudi murder of one man, given the brutal practices of countries like China. President Xi Jinping has detained more than one million Uighurs in internment camps because of their religion. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have spoken out against these camps, but Trump has shied away from publicly condemning this and other Chinese human rights atrocities.
what a clusterfuck... https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...esident-donald-j-trump-standing-saudi-arabia/ The world is a very dangerous place! The country of Iran, as an example, is responsible for a bloody proxy war against Saudi Arabia in Yemen, trying to destabilize Iraq’s fragile attempt at democracy, supporting the terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up dictator Bashar Assad in Syria (who has killed millions of his own citizens), and much more. Likewise, the Iranians have killed many Americans and other innocent people throughout the Middle East. Iran states openly, and with great force, “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!” Iran is considered “the world’s leading sponsor of terror.” On the other hand, Saudi Arabia would gladly withdraw from Yemen if the Iranians would agree to leave. They would immediately provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance. Additionally, Saudi Arabia has agreed to spend billions of dollars in leading the fight against Radical Islamic Terrorism. 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! The crime against Jamal Khashoggi was a terrible one, and one that our country does not condone. Indeed, we have taken strong action against those already known to have participated in the murder. After great independent research, we now know many details of this horrible crime. We have already sanctioned 17 Saudis known to have been involved in the murder of Mr. Khashoggi, and the disposal of his body. Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an “enemy of the state” and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, but my decision is in no way based on that – this is an unacceptable and horrible crime. King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t! That being said, 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. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world! I understand there are members of Congress who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction – and they are free to do so. I will consider whatever ideas are presented to me, but only if they are consistent with the absolute security and safety of America. After the United States, Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing nation in the world. They have worked closely with us and have been very responsive to my requests to keeping oil prices at reasonable levels – so important for the world. As President of the United States I intend to ensure that, in a very dangerous world, America is pursuing its national interests and vigorously contesting countries that wish to do us harm. Very simply it is called America First!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/co...udi-arabia-senate-advances-bill-end-u-n941386 Senate advances bill to end U.S. involvement in Yemen war after 'inadequate' briefing on Saudi Arabia The rebuke to President Trump comes after his dismissal of an intelligence assessment that concluded the Saudi crown prince likely ordered Khashoggi murder.