Donald Trump Cautions Against Immediately Blaming Saudi Arabia For Jamal Khashoggi’s Alleged Killing
While many are ready to withdraw from any involvement with Saudi Arabia following the alleged brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, U.S. President Donald Trump has taken a very different view of the situation.
According to Fox News, Trump has warned critics to reserve judgment until a complete investigation has been undertaken into the situation, despite several eyewitnesses supporting the theory that the government was supposedly involved.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Turkey to assess the situation and report back to the president.
Trump’s response to questions about his thoughts on the reported horrific death of the journalist made it clear he doesn’t want to draw any conclusions without a full investigation.
“I think we have to find out what happened first. Here we go again with, you know, you’re guilty until proven innocent. I don’t like that. We just went through that with Justice Kavanaugh and he was innocent all the way as far as I’m concerned.”
Khashoggi suddenly disappeared two weeks ago after he had gone to the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul in order to get papers he needed in order to marry his fiancee. He was not seen or heard from again until his reported murder was uncovered.
Trump defended Saudi Arabia as accusations mount over its de facto ruler's close links to the men who apparently killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi: "Here we go again with you know you're guilty until proven innocent" https://t.co/WgTYQDcRei
— CNN (@CNN) October 17, 2018
However, Turkish officials have stated they fear that Khashoggi was “killed and dismembered” inside the consulate, stating that 15 assassins arrived in two private jets to carry out the alleged murder. Khashoggi has been critical of Saudi Arabia’s leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the likely cause of his assassination if the Saudis are involved.
Trump claims to have spoken to Saudi King Salman and the crown prince, both of whom have denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s death to the U.S. president. After initially denying any involvement in the journalist’s disappearance, several outlets later reported that the Saudi government might “reveal publicly that rogue intelligence operatives murdered Khashoggi by mistake inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul earlier this month during an interrogation that went wrong.”
While Trump deliberates his stance on the matter and continues to call for an investigation, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham has called for strong retaliation to the supposed murder, per a previous report by the Inquisitr.
Graham, who has always defended the Saudi Arabian government in the U.S., feels that Trump should “sanction the hell” out of the country unless the crown prince is removed from power.
