“I used to be in a position to get Congress to go away him alone,” Trump mentioned. (Representational)
Washington:
US President Donald Trump boasted that he saved Saudi Arabia’s crown prince from higher scrutiny over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in line with an explosive new e book.
In one among 18 interviews with legendary investigative reporter Bob Woodward, Trump defended Mohammed bin Salman over the grotesque homicide inside a Saudi consulate of Khashoggi, a US-based critic of the crown prince’s rule.
“I saved his ass,” Trump advised Woodward for his forthcoming e book “Rage,” in line with an excerpt revealed Thursday by Enterprise Insider.
“I used to be in a position to get Congress to go away him alone. I used to be in a position to get them to cease,” Trump mentioned.
In an echo of the notorious 2018 summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin through which the US chief appeared to simply accept his denials of election meddling, Trump famous that Prince Mohammed denied involvement.
“He’ll all the time say that he did not do it,” Trump was quoted as telling Woodward.
“He says that to all people, and albeit I am glad that he says that. However he’ll say that to you, he’ll say that to Congress, and he’ll say that to all people. He is by no means mentioned he did it.”
Khashoggi’s killing triggered an uproar amongst US lawmakers however the Trump administration has stood by Saudi Arabia, together with controversially bypassing Congress for an $eight billion arms deal.
As he has mentioned publicly, Trump defended his stance by pointing to the main oil producer’s purchases of US items, together with weapons.
“He says very strongly that he did not do it,” Trump was quoted as telling Woodward. “Bob, they spent $400 billion over a reasonably quick time frame.”
Khashoggi — who wrote opinion items for The Washington Publish, Woodward’s newspaper — was lured into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 to deal with marriage paperwork.
Inside minutes, the onetime royal insider turned critic was strangled to demise along with his physique then dismembered, in line with Turkish and US officers.
A Saudi court docket on Monday handed jail phrases of between seven to 20 years to eight unnamed defendants and overturned 5 demise sentences, in a remaining ruling condemned by Khashoggi’s fiancee and a UN rights skilled.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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