Democrats Condemn Trump’s Warm Welcome for the Saudi Crown Prince

Seven years after the Senate unanimously condemned him, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a warm welcome in Washington from President Donald Trump. But many Democrats say they haven’t forgotten the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“I have not moved on,” Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said when asked whether the U.S. had moved past the assassination, which U.S. intelligence officials said was approved by MBS.

The tone was far different at the White House, where Trump and MBS held a friendly meeting earlier Tuesday. Trump criticized a reporter for asking about Khashoggi, saying his “friend” MBS had no prior knowledge of Khashoggi’s murder and then disparaged the late journalist.

Democrats said the chummy reception was inappropriate.

“People need to remember his role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, and I don’t think that calls for the kind of whatever that was in the White House between the president and MBS today, where they seem to be almost high-fiving each other,” Sen. Adam Schiff of California said.

Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, said Trump was “disrespecting the U.S. intel community.”

“The statements the president made about Khashoggi were just outrageous,” Kaine told NOTUS.

In the years following Khashoggi’s assassination, lawmakers in both parties were sharply critical of MBS. In 2018, Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters after leaving a classified briefing that the amount of evidence tying MBS to the journalist’s murder was so great it amounted to “a smoking saw.”

But things have changed: MBS has only grown more powerful in Saudi Arabia, which U.S. officials consider hugely important for stability in the Middle East and the world. Lawmakers from both parties said that cutting off Saudi Arabia was not an option.

“I think we have an important relationship with Saudi Arabia, and we do need to continue to work together,” Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said the crown prince’s reception reflected broader shifts in the region, pointing to the need to work with Saudi Arabia “to help stabilize the Middle East.” He said that accountability remains a concern but must be weighed against regional instability.

“I think people have to be held accountable. That is still a concern to me,” Tillis said. “But at the end of the day, you got millions of lives at risk, and you’re trying to stabilize a very spicy part of the world.”

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, a former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, downplayed past concerns about Khashoggi’s murder.

“It is in the past,” he told NOTUS. “This is going to lead towards the path of normalization in the Middle East and the post-Gaza world. We have to be smart about this.”

McCaul said the U.S. has to view Riyadh as a long-term ally, and strategic stakes are clear: “I’d rather sell F-35s to them than have them buy them from China. To me, from a geopolitical standpoint, and moving towards normalization, that makes a lot of sense.”

Trump and MBS are slated to sign a number of agreements throughout the visit. The United States is selling a slate of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, making it the only Middle Eastern country to receive the planes outside Israel.

Kaine raised concerns about the F-35 sale in light of Riyadh’s ties to Beijing.

U.S. lawmakers have for years sought to dissuade ties between Saudi Arabia and China, a relationship that sparked fresh concerns this week after Trump announced the F-35 sale talks. Critics of the potential sale include Trump’s first vice president, Mike Pence, who warned that countries like Saudi Arabia may be unable to prevent the F-35 technology from falling into the hands of American adversaries.

Some lawmakers will reportedly meet with MBS on Wednesday, although a gathering with a bipartisan group of senators was called off, according to Punchbowl News.

As the U.S. navigates its relationship with MBS, Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, told NOTUS it feels as if her husband’s killing is being pushed aside and there has been no justice. She said she hopes for a chance to speak directly with both Trump and MBS

“They try to close the fight. They try to wrap it up and make the world forget. But it will not be forgotten,” she said.