Trump ‘Not Satisfied’ After Talking With Saudi Crown Prince

Rejects Saudi request to have another month for investigation

President Trump told reporters Monday that he has talked with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about the death of Jamal Khashoggi and is “not satisfied with what I’ve heard.” He added that the Saudis need to be more forthcoming.

Trump further said he had rejected a request from Saudi Arabia to give them another month to complete the investigation, saying he believes “there’s no reason” for that much time to be taken.

Trump has long insisted he doesn’t want to do anything to Saudi Arabia to threaten US arms sales, or the “million jobs” he claims they will provide. Previously, he had said this was contingent on the royal family not being involved in the killing, which seems less and less likely.

Trump still seems unwilling to pin the death directly on the crown prince, however, and is just calling it a “plot gone awry.” He added that he doubts the official Saudi statement that Khashoggi got in a surprise fist-fight with the 15-man kill team and suddenly died.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.