On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and outspoken critic of his government, visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, to obtain official documents. He never emerged.
When Khashoggi entered, Saudi security officials ambushed him, killed him in cold blood, and dismembered his body. The brutality of his murder reverberated around the world and sparked urgent calls for justice and accountability.
During President Trump’s first term, the U.S. government undertook an exhaustive investigation under the auspices of the Director of National Intelligence. Their report was produced on February 11, 2021, and made public two weeks later. It concluded that seven members of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s (MBS) elite personal protective detail, known as the Rapid Intervention Force (RIF), were involved in the murder. Their report concluded categorically that MBS approved of the operation “to capture or kill” Khashoggi, a regular contributor to The Washington Post. The DNI based its assessment on “the Crown Prince’s control of decision-making in the Kingdom, the direct involvement of a key adviser and members of Muhammad bin Salman’s protective detail in the operation, and the Crown Prince’s support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad, including Khashoggi.”
Yesterday, as Trump hosted the crown prince during his first White House visit since the Khashoggi murder, the president sought desperately to whitewash this history.
Many argue that Trump should never have invited MBS to the White House, and certainly not with the great pomp and circumstance he was afforded, including a flyover of six military jets and a horse-drawn military guard. But members of Trump’s administration counter that U.S. economic, political, and security interests with Saudi Arabia are now so significant that they necessitate steady engagement, including with MBS, who is functionally running the government.
That relationship now extends beyond oil. The Saudi’s have pledged to invest $600 billion in this country. They are major customers of U.S.-manufactured fighter jets and other weapons. Yesterday, MBS suggested that investment may one day approach a trillion dollars. There are very few countries capable and willing to make that level of investment. In the coming days, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia are expected to sign agreements involving artificial intelligence and rare earth minerals. The Saudis also have been an important regional ally in the effort to counteract Iranian influence in the region, and the two countries are poised to sign a mutual defense pact. Trump continues to urge the Saudis to join several of their neighbors, including the UAE and Bahrain, in normalizing relations with Israel.
While all of these matters involve important U.S. economic and security interests, none come close to justifying Trump’s shameful defense of MBS yesterday or his flagrant disregard for the truth. His conduct went far beyond simply favoring economic, political, or security interests over the pursuit of human rights objectives, a balancing act that takes place in every administration. When a reporter asked MBS about the Khashoggi killing, the president jumped in to both defend MBS and to denigrate Khashoggi.
First, he observed “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman you are talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but [MBS] knew nothing about it.” Seeking to shut the door on further conversation, he chided the reporter who asked the question, telling her, “You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
Trump went out of his way to lionize MBS more generally, calling him “one of the most respected people in the world.” Stating that he and MBS have been “really good friends for a long period of time,” Trump observed with his usual understatement, “we’ve always been on the same side of every issue.”
None of these comments can erase the truth, which is that MBS oversaw the commission of a horrible murder of a United States resident who wrote regularly for The Washington Post, whose only crime was to be sharply critical of the Saudi government on issues like human rights.
Trump’s praise for MBS extended to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, with the president saying, “What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights.” This despite the fact that Trump’s own State Department recently criticized the Saudi government for “credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings; disappearances; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; arbitrary arrest and detention; transnational repression against individuals in another country; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists and censorship; restrictions of religious freedom; and prohibiting independent trade unions or significant or systemic restrictions on workers’ freedom of association.”
Over the last 10 months, Trump has busted through many traditional norms associated with government leadership, justifying his harsh words and erratic actions as being part of an effort to put America first. But perhaps more than any day since he returned to the White House in January, Trump’s cynical defense yesterday of Muhammad bin Salman and his brazen disregard for the truth about Jamal Khashoggi’s gruesome murder has diminished America’s standing in the world—its soft power.
What he said yesterday crossed a line, marking an abdication of moral leadership that will not soon be forgotten or forgiven by those who cherish freedom anywhere in the world.