Trump bragged he protected Saudi crown prince MBS in Khashoggi case, reveals Woodward's book: 'I saved his a**'
President Donald Trump’s controversial conduct in matters related to the US foreign policy came to the fore once again, thanks to yet another tell-all book. The maverick president bragged about him saving Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) over the gruesome killing of veteran journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey, an incident that led to an international controversy, in late 2018, according to Bob Woodward's new tell-all book.
According to the legendary journalist's book that has been titled ‘Rage’, due to be released this month, Trump defended the Saudi leader and told the book’s author: “I saved his a**”. It was revealed in an excerpt which was published on Thursday, September 10, by Business Insider. It came in one of the 18 interviews that Trump had with Woodward who also came up with other revelations that would put the president in a lot of discomfort ahead of the November 3 presidential election.
Khashoggi, who was killed and reportedly dismembered 11 days before turning 60, was a critic of the Saudi regime and was based in the US. An opinion columnist for the Washington Post, Khashoggi went to the consulate in Istanbul to get a license for his marriage to finance Hatice Cengiz. The man was brutally killed thereafter and while Trump told Woodward that he did not believe MBS was behind the act, American and other foreign intelligence services reportedly concluded that it was the crown prince who had ordered the journalist’s elimination. Trump was accused of doing little against Saudi Arabia despite the reports.
The murder created a massive outrage among the legislators from both the GOP and Democratic Party but Trump bypassed the Congress to sell missiles and weapons worth $8 billion to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, two of America’s big allies in the Middle East. Trump told Woodward and it has been revealed in the upcoming book: “I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop.” Talking on MBS’s denial of being involved in the murder, Trump said: “He will always say that he didn’t do it. He says that to everybody, and frankly I'm happy that he says that. But he will say that to you, he will say that to Congress, and he will say that to everybody. He's never said he did it.”
A 2019 book called 'A Warning' penned by an anonymous author claimed that Trump decided against actively confronting MBS over Khashoggi's 2018 murder because he was afraid the global oil prices would spike. According to the forthcoming book, 'A Warning,' Trump decided not to actively confront Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, about Khashoggi's 2018 murder because he was afraid global oil prices would spike.
Saudi court ruling on Khashoggi slammed
On Monday, September 7, a court in Saudi Arabia overturned five death sentences over Khashoggi’s murder. In a trial that has been widely mocked, the court gave 20-year sentences to five people and sentenced three others to terms between seven and 10 years. Both Cengiz and experts at the UN denounced the justice process in the Khashoggi murder case. On Tuesday, September 8, UN spokesperson Rupert Colville said while the global body is against death penalty, the trial lacked transparency and did not assign accountability for the criminal activity.
“This is case where there has not been proper transparency in the justice process, those responsible should be prosecuted and given sentences commensurate with the crime,” he said in Geneva, Reuters reported.
Cengiz also condemned the ruling and said on Twitter: “The ruling handed down today in Saudi Arabia again makes a complete mockery of justice.”