President Trump backs Saudi ruler despite murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Author: AP
Published:
FILE – In this Oct. 25, 2018, file photo, candles, lit by activists, protesting the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, are placed outside Saudi Arabia’s consulate, in Istanbul, during a candlelight vigil. President Donald Trump is facing mounting pressure to sternly rebuke Saudi Arabia over the death of Khashoggi. So far, Trump is resisting calls to harshly reprimand the close U.S. ally. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

President Donald Trump says the U.S. will not levy additional punitive measures at this time against Saudi Arabia over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump said in a statement Tuesday that the U.S. does not condone the killing of the U.S-based Saudi columnist, but that “foolishly” canceling $110 billion in arms sales — as some in Congress have suggested — would only mean that Saudi Arabia would go to other countries to acquire them.

Trump says 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.

He says “it could well be that the crown prince had knowledge.”

Trump says “maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.”

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