October 21, 2018

President Trump Defends Saudi Leader as “Incredible Ally”

US intelligence suggests the crown prince directed the killing and dismembering of a journalist.

Evan Vucci/AP

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On Saturday night, President Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia as an “incredible ally” while at the same time criticizing the monarchy’s explanation that Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed during a fistfight with 15 men inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey. Turkish investigators have said that Saudi agents tortured and dismembered Khashoggi during a visit to the consulate to pick up a document before his wedding. 

Acknowledging “there’s been deception, and there’s been lies,” Trump told the Washington Post late on Saturday that Khashoggi’s killing would not derail an ongoing $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. “To give that up would hurt us far more than it hurts them,” Trump told the Post. “Then all they’ll do is go to Russia or go to China. All that’s doing is hurting us.”

The Saudi government’s attempt to deflect responsibility has drawn international skepticism from critics who say the killing would have happened with the knowledge or consent of the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. But Trump, who has accepted the Saudi government’s version of events and ignored US intelligence, was hesitant to send blame the prince’s way. “Nobody has told me he’s responsible. Nobody has told me he’s not responsible. We haven’t reached that point,” Trump told the Washington Post. On Saturday, the Saudi foreign ministry announced the arrest of 18 people and the firing of five top officials, including the crown prince’s adviser Saud al-Qahtani, after its initial investigation into Khashoggi’s death.  

Meanwhile, some Republican senators have been more forceful in criticizing the Saudi regime’s story about the journalist’s killing. In an interview on Fox News Sunday morning, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called for an end to arms sales with the Riyadh. Sen. Bob Corker, chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday he believed the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was involved in the operation that resulted in Khashoggi’s death. 

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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