MEDIA/MIDDLE EAST/SAUDI ARABIA/TURKEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “After Jamal Khashoggi entered Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul a little over a week ago and disappeared, leaders and media worldwide demanded the kingdom explain Turkish claims that the journalist had been killed by the Saudi government. The US initially stayed relatively quiet — but pressure for a more robust response is increasing as lawmakers called for a probe into the 59-year-old’s fate. A combination of Trump’s world view and his Middle East ambitions have meant the White House has been loath to criticize Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s 33-year-old de facto ruler. Trump has made clear that his administration will not make human rights overseas a priority; he and especially his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner maintain close ties to the crown prince; and Trump has long had business ties to Saudi Arabia, where he made his first foreign trip as President. More crucially, Trump has established a trio of goals in the Middle East that depend on Saudi Arabia’s rulers and their money. The kingdom is central to the Trump administration’s goals on Middle East peace, its effort to fight ISIS in Syria and elsewhere, and its foreign policy priority of countering Iran.”
–Nicole Gaouette and Elise Labott, “Trump walks tightrope amid global outrage over disappearance of Saudi journalist,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, October 10, 2018 6:44 am