Trump gets angry, threatens to punish closest ally in the Middle East
President Donald Trump has vowed to "severely punish" Saudi Arabia if America's closest Middle East ally ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
US President Donald Trump
According to CNN, in an interview with CBS, Mr. Trump emphasized that the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was "of great concern" and that his administration "would be very angry" if it discovered that the Saudi Arabian government had ordered the murder.
“There’s a lot at stake, perhaps especially because this man is a reporter. If it’s true, it’s horrible and it’s disgusting… we’re going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment,” President Trump said in an interview with CBS on October 12.
However, the White House boss also said that even if the journalist was really murdered by Riyadh, he still would not end the arms deal between the US and Saudi Arabia.
“They’re ordering military equipment, everybody in the world wants to do that. Russia wants it, China wants it, we want it – and we have it. We have it all down to the smallest things,” Mr. Trump declared.
The US president said he did not want to lose an order or affect jobs, but had other ways to punish Riyadh if necessary.
"At this point, they're still denying it. They're denying it vehemently. Did they do it?" Mr. Trump asked.
Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi critic who often wrote articles critical of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the royal family, was last seen on October 2 entering the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, to obtain marriage documents.
Turkish officials believe a group of 15 Saudis known as the “killer gang” killed Khashoggi inside the consulate. Ankara says it has audio and video evidence of the journalist being killed inside the building, although this information has not been made public, according to RT.
Türkiye is investigating the disappearance and has revealed recordings made on the journalist's Apple Watch that show he was tortured and murdered, according to Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah, citing a "reliable source in the intelligence department".
The report added that the watch was synced with an iPhone that the journalist's fiancée kept outside the consulate. According to Daily Sabah, Saudi agents realized the watch was recording after Khashoggi's death and tried to unlock it with his fingerprint to delete some of the material, but not all.
Saudi Arabia denies ordering Khashoggi's murder. The country's Interior Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, has called the allegations against them lies and baseless accusations.
