Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2.
The world first found out about his murder from his fianceé, conformed on October 8th by the government of Turkey. Over the following weeks, it became increasingly clear that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) was involved in ordering Khashoggi’s death. Turkey had videos of him going into the Saudi consulate, but none of him coming out. After Khashoggi’s disappearance received international attention, Saudi Arabia insisted he had left their consulate harm-free only hours after his arrival. In reality, Khashoggi never came out alive. In their circus of denials, Saudi Arabia next maintained he was murdered in a rogue operation. Video and audio evidence from Turkey hasn’t been released to the press, but Saudi Arabia’s repeated cover-ups and ties exposed by The New York Times between MBS and the agents allegedly involved in the murder strongly suggest the Crown Prince’s guilt.
The CIA even confirmed MBS’s involvement. However, U.S. President Donald J. Trump continues to defend Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, throwing the Trump-led U.S. down a rabbit-hole of moral failure.
For Trump, a transactional America is not based on political and economic policy for the common good, but governing based on commercial transactions which benefit, in addition to Trump and his family, powerful companies and Trump-friendly governments. He has a particular willingness to further his own financial interests in the process of foreign trade and relations.
Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia runs deep. At a Trump rally in 2015, he told the crowd, “Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million, Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.” He has also sold a yacht, a hotel, and companies to Saudi investors. In 2001, he sold an entire floor of Trump Tower in NYC to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Concerning the government as a whole, Saudi Arabia sells America their oil, and in return, the U.S. sells Saudi Arabia U.S. weapons. These are the weapons Saudi Arabia has used in the ongoing conflict in Yemen, which has killed more than 6,592 civilians and led to the starvation of 84,701 children since 2015. Trump doesn’t care what he sells or whom he sells it to, as long as the deal makes money. His transactional America embodies that very notion, the freedom to make money without regard to other human beings.
Just as Trump has repeatedly ignored CIA evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election in order to preserve his own legitimacy, Trump has ignored overwhelming evidence of MBS’s culpability in Khashoggi’s murder because of his and the government’s economic ties to Saudi Arabia. Yet again, he has ignored facts for his own convenience.
From the very beginning, he expressed doubt about the Saudi Arabian government’s guilt.
On October 15th, about two weeks after Khashoggi’s disappearance, King Salman (MBS’s father) again denied Saudi government involvement during a phone call with President Trump. That day Trump told reporters, “I don’t want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like these could have been rogue killers? Who knows? We’re going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon, but his was a flat denial.” Though a bit ambiguous on his stance, Trump didn’t have all the information available to him, that is, until the CIA released their report.
On November 16th, the CIA confirmed that MBS was involved in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. However, Trump refused to admit MBS’s involvement in the murder despite the almost-definite evidence when he released a presidential statement. He started by describing the $450 billion Saudi Arabia agreed to invest in the U.S. last year. Trump then condemned the killing but reiterated the consistent denials from Crown Prince Mohammed and affirmed, “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.” By praising Saudi Arabia’s economic contributions to the U.S., then refusing to acknowledge MBS’s guilt, Trump isn’t just valuing economic interests over U.S. morals, but his warped view of transactional America is setting a precedent for countries around the world: as long as you have something to give the U.S, we’ll look the other way.
Meanwhile, on November 28th, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis briefed U.S. senators regarding Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the murder of Khashoggi. Pompeo and Mattis defended Trump’s decision to abstain from accusing MBS. CIA Director Gina Haspel, who was expected to inform senators of evidence against MBS, was absent. Even Republican senators were displeased. The White House denied blocking Haspel’s appearance. Following the briefing, Lindsey Graham (Republican —South Carolina) said to reporters, “I ain’t doing [anything] until we hear from the CIA.” Despite freedom of press issues at hand and a murdered American resident, The White House seemed desperate to leave the Khashoggi murder behind.
Six days later, United States senators did get the briefing they wanted from Gina Haspel. The briefing confirmed Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s involvement and instruction in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Senators departed the meeting feeling convinced of MBS’s guilt. In particular, conservative senators such as Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Graham spoke out against MBS and Saudi Arabia. “If he [MBS] were in front of a jury, he would be convicted of murder in about 30 minutes,” said Corker to reporters following the briefing. “This is conduct that none of us in America would approve of in any way,” Shelby said. When conservative senators who have stuck by Trump decide to stray away from his apathetic stance, it’s clear Trump has gone too far down his path of privileging financial gain above all else.
Now with the Senate against him, the question remains of whether Trump will step up and reprimand Mohammed Bin Salman for his involvement in a premeditated killing and a deliberate cover-up. Without Trump’s denouncement of MBS’s culpability in Khashoggi’s murder, the U.S. falls deeper down the hole of Trump’s transactional America.
