U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States intends to remain a “steadfast partner” of Saudi Arabia, even though “it could very well be” that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had knowledge of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump, in a statement issued by the White House, indicated he had no intention of cancelling $100 billion US in arms sales with Riyadh, saying, “if we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries.”
Trump said the king and crown prince of Saudi Arabia “vigorously deny” any knowledge of the planning and execution of the Oct. 2 murder of The Washington Post columnist at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
While the statement noted Khashoggi’s murder was “an unacceptable and horrible crime,” it also said “we may never know all of the facts” surrounding journalist’s killing.