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Jamal Khashoggi, close to the Saudi authorities before becoming an opponent of them, used to publish articles critical of the crown prince’s policies in the US newspaper “Washington Post”.
Khashoggi was assassinated on October 2, 2018, inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul, after he entered to obtain a document. His body has yet to be found.
Trump boasted in one of his taped interviews, to be published in the book “Fury” to be published next week by famous journalist Bob Woodward, that he had managed to “rescue” the Saudi crown prince, whom Congress held responsible for the murder of Khashoggi.
In response to a question about the Saudi crown prince’s relationship to the Khashoggi assassination, Trump said: “You saved him. You’ve got Congress to leave him alone. I managed to stop them.”
It is worth noting that after the incident, US senators, including Trump’s Republican allies, issued an official decision holding the Saudi crown prince “responsible” for the murder of his fellow journalist. Yet Trump has always been defending Prince Mohammed in this case.
In his book, Woodward says that when he asked the president of the United States about this crime, the latter tried to evade the answer, saying: “Yes, but Iran kills 36 people a day, so …”.
The veteran journalist added that when he pressed his interlocutor further, Trump told him that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia denies any connection to the crime.
According to the excerpts, Trump said that the Saudi prince “will always say that he did not do this. He tells everyone and, frankly, I am happy that he did,” adding, “He never said he did that.”
Then Woodward asked the Republican billionaire, “Do you think he did it?” Trump replied, “No, he says he didn’t.”
But the journalist continued to pressure the president, saying, “I know, but do you really believe it?” Trump replied, “He says very firmly that he did not,” before returning and explaining to his interlocutor how Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars buying American products and how it is very important for the United States to maintain such an ally.
On Monday, a Riyadh court issued final verdicts in the Khashoggi murder case, which sentenced eight inmates to prison terms ranging from seven to 20 years.
Trump responded on Thursday to excerpts from the book published by the US media on his Twitter account, in which he tweeted: “Bob Woodward has had my statements for several months. If you thought they were bad or dangerous, why didn’t you immediately inform them in an attempt to save? Spirits? Was he not obliged to do so? No, because he knew they were good and correct answers. Please calm down, don’t panic!
