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“A jovial President Donald Trump held a warm and friendly meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman at the White House, packed with plenty of handshakes and back pats. He brushed aside questions about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, praised the prince for his statesmanship and announced hundreds of billions of dollars in new Saudi investment in the United States…
“Tuesday’s meeting was the first White House visit for the crown prince since [Jamal] Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Washington Post columnist, was killed and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018. U.S. intelligence said Prince Mohammad likely approved the slaying…
“Trump called Khashoggi, a Saudi pro-democracy activist, ‘extremely controversial’ and said ‘a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he (the crown prince) knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that.’ Prince Mohammad, who has denied involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, replied that his government had taken action…
“Trump had previewed his decision to sell F-35s [to Saudi Arabia] on Sunday but formalized it before the prince on Tuesday… Trump also said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia would complete a broader agreement on military and security issues during the visit and that the U.S. would proceed with a civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia.” AP News
The left criticizes Trump for downplaying Khashoggi’s murder.
“This is a man responsible for the bloody deaths of tens of thousands of people, from civilians in Yemen to his many domestic Saudi critics. Execution rates have surged in recent years, with a new high of 345 in 2024… Even if Trump and Biden were determined to maintain the cozy relationship the U.S. has with the kingdom, there was no reason to do so without exerting some pressure on the Saudi royal family.”
Jason Rezaian, Washington Post
“It’s possible to protect U.S. interests without insulting Khashoggi’s memory. It would be more effective to ensure that someone like Mohammed is held accountable, understands who the more powerful partner in the relationship is and comes back begging for forgiveness – not be greeted cost-free with an honor guard of black horses, herald trumpeters and fighter jets…
“The relationship with Saudi Arabia still produces some benefits, but even in a complicated world, an American president should be able to respect Khashoggi’s legacy while conducting the messy business of statecraft. Forgetting Mohammed’s brutality and Khashoggi’s warnings is a choice.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
“In the aftermath of [Khashoggi]’s murder, Trump administration officials worked overtime to launder Saudi Arabia’s blood-stained image. Jared Kushner was advising Prince Mohammed on how to ‘weather the storm’. Last year, Kushner’s equity firm received $2bn from Saudi Arabia’s private equity firm…
“Pro-Saudi voices would argue that moralizing about chopped-up journalists does us no good, shouldn’t get in the way of the US-Saudi partnership, that there is too much money at stake, and that in order for the west’s colonial management of the Middle East, we need our friends in Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel… This narrative only helps the billionaires and the deal brokers. The average American gains next to nothing from these elite arrangements.”
Karen Attiah, The Guardian
“If a [security] guarantee is given to buy Saudi support for the peace process in the Gaza Strip or normalization with Israel, it’s unnecessary, because those steps are in Riyadh’s interest too. If it’s meant to keep the Saudis from fraternizing with the Chinese, it will fail, because the Crown Prince wants to hedge his bets with all major powers. What it will do instead is commit an overstretched America to yet another hotspot of conflicts.”
Andreas Kluth, Bloomberg
The right generally praises the meeting, arguing that Khashoggi’s killing should not stand in the way of US-Saudi relations.
The right generally praises the meeting, arguing that Khashoggi’s killing should not stand in the way of US-Saudi relations.
“Future Middle Eastern stability depends greatly on bin Salman’s domestic reforms… These reforms bear direct importance for U.S. national security in that if Saudi Arabia does not succeed in modernizing its society and diversifying its economy, Salafi-jihadist preachers are going to have a field day with a vast flock of young men who lack jobs, wives, and hope — think ISIS 2.0…
“Chinese leader Mao Zedong killed tens of millions of his own people in the crazed pursuit of industrialized communism. Still, President Richard Nixon was right to fete Mao in an effort to draw China away from the Soviet Union. Nixon put American interests first in doing so. Even if his disdain for Khashoggi’s plight is unbecoming, Trump’s engagement with bin Salman ultimately puts U.S. interests first.”
Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
“Many agreements with Riyadh were mooted in the Biden years, but the U.S. held off, waiting for the Saudis to join the Abraham Accords and solidify the U.S. regional alliance. Now some deals are going ahead anyway, without that kind of significant American geopolitical gain…
“What will the U.S. get from MBS’s trip? So far, the answer is cash money. The Crown Prince said his May pledge of $600 billion in investments in the U.S. will be raised to $1 trillion. Wait to see how much of it materializes. But a strengthened U.S.-Saudi relationship is good news. From China and Israel to Yemen and Iran, there’s much the Saudis can do for America. For what Mr. Trump is offering them, though, he ought to make sure he isn’t asking too little.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
Some argue, “Bringing Saudi Arabia into the U.S. security umbrella has far more costs to than benefits. After signing off on such an arrangement, the U.S. military would effectively be on the hook for defending a country whose interests aren’t fully aligned with Washington’s own…
“Americans would also be expected to fight and die on behalf of a foreign nation whose values are dramatically different and whose previous policies in the region — launching a war in Yemen, blockading Qatar and even abducting the prime minister of another country to force his resignation — was the precise opposite of promoting regional stability.”
Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune
