Tag Archives: Saudi Arabia

The Wall Street Journal reports: Kushner Cos., the family real-estate company of President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, said it has acquired a portfolio of rental apartments for $1.1 billion in the firm’s largest transaction in more than a decade. The purchase comes less than a year after the company unloaded a Manhattan office tower at 666 Fifth …

Salon reports: A new report issued by House Democrats this week claims that key Trump administration appointees overrode the objections of top national security officials and attorneys to promote the sale of nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia — and these sales could have directly benefited Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner. “The Cummings report notes that one of the power plant …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Former national-security adviser Mike Flynn and others within the White House ignored repeated legal and ethical warnings as they pushed early in President Trump’s tenure an ambitious plan to build dozens of nuclear-power reactors in Saudi Arabia, according to a report released Tuesday by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The report describes …

The Week reports: Tom Barrack, a billionaire financier who GOP operative Roger Stone once called President Trump’s “best friend”, defended Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Tuesday while speaking in Dubai on Tuesday. When CNN’s Becky Anderson asked Barrack about the effect the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has had on Saudi Arabia’s global reputation, Barrack first …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The dust-up between Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and National Enquirer parent American Media LLC has raised questions about the media company’s connections to Saudi Arabia. American Media has had plenty of contacts with Saudi Arabia in recent years, including seeking financial backing from Saudi investors to fund acquisitions and producing a magazine celebrating the country’s …

The New York Times reports: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia told a top aide in a conversation in 2017 that he would use “a bullet” on Jamal Khashoggi, the journalist killed in October, if Mr. Khashoggi did not return to the kingdom and end his criticism of the Saudi government, according to current and former American and …

The Washington Post reports: The Senate voted, 57-38, to end U.S. military involvement in Yemen as lawmakers continue to express outrage and frustration with the president’s refusal to condemn Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi despite the CIA’s finding that Mohammed likely is responsible. Thursday’s action is largely symbolic, as the resolution is …

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on Fox & Friends this morning where he appeared to deny that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince ordered the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Brian Kilmeade noted that many members of Congress are convinced of Salman’s guilt, especially after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed lawmakers about the evidence collected by her team. To this point, Kilmeade …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Kushner’s support for Prince Mohammed in the moment of crisis is a striking demonstration of a singular bond that has helped draw President Trump into an embrace of Saudi Arabia as one of his most important international allies. But the ties between Mr. Kushner and Prince Mohammed did not happen on their own. The …

The Week reports: In a Tuesday appearance on CNN, House Intelligence Committee member Chris Stewart (R-Utah) backed up Trump’s previous dismissal of CIA findings, saying the information he received about Khashoggi’s death “was not definitive.” He then questioned why people seemed so fixated on Khashoggi’s death, seeing as “journalists disappear all over the country,” as well as in Mexico, China, …

ABC News reports: Following a briefing to senators by CIA director Gina Haspel Tuesday on the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi leading Republicans told reporters that there was “zero question” that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the brutal murder. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, said “I have zero question in my mind …

The Guardian reports: The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has said that downgrading US ties with Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi would be a mistake for national security and would not push Saudis in a better direction at home. After repeated calls from members of Congress for a strong US response, Pompeo and the defense secretary, …

He surely didn’t need very much convincing. ABC News reports: President Donald Trump’s reluctance to hold Saudi leadership accountable for the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi stemmed from an aspirational $110 billion arms deal between the U.S. and Saudia Arabia that was inflated at the direction of Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, according to two U.S. officials …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the CIA did not reach a conclusion about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, adding during a teleconference with military members that Salman “regretted the death more than I do.” The president had previously declined to confirm or deny reports that …

NBC News reports: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday slammed President Donald Trump as “Saudi Arabia’s bitch” in the latest scathing criticism of the commander-in-chief’s extraordinary statement this week to stand by the country’s rulers despite the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Hawaii Democratic congresswoman made the remarks in a brief and blistering tweet Wednesday afternoon. The tweet was in …

“President Trump stands with Saudi Arabia, after the American intelligence community concluded that the Saudi crown prince ordered the murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Today the president insulted the murder victim and sided with the Saudis, who said our CIA is wrong. In his lengthy missive, riddled with exclamation points, Mr. Trump wrote, ‘We may never know …

The New York Times reports: President Trump declared his unswerving loyalty to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Tuesday, declaring that the prince’s culpability in the killing of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, might never be known. “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he …

USA Today reports: The CIA has concluded in an assessment that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to the Associated Press and Washington Post. The assessment comes weeks after the Saudi government admitted Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the royal family, was killed in its Turkish consulate at the hands of interrogators. …

Politico reports: The Trump administration on Thursday imposed sanctions targeting 17 Saudi Arabian officials — but not the powerful crown prince — over the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi more than a month after the Saudi critic went missing. The Treasury Department designated the officials for sanctions over what it called “serious human rights abuse,” freezing any U.S. …

The Guardian reports: Saudi Arabia’s top prosecutor is recommending the death penalty for five suspects charged with ordering and carrying out the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, in a move that appears designed to protect the country’s powerful crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. A spokesman for Saudi Al-Mojeb told journalists in a rare press conference in Riyadh on Thursday …