MEDIA/MIKE POMPEO/SAUDI ARABIA/STATE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s smiling photo op with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince disguised the reality of a blunt, tough meeting in which the top US diplomat told the royal his future as king depends on his handling of Jamal Khashoggi’s suspected murder. A source familiar with Pompeo’s Tuesday [10-16-18] meeting with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman tells CNN that the smiling photo-op between the two should not be read as an indication that the meeting was friendly. Instead, Pompeo told bin Salman in no uncertain terms that he had to ‘own’ the situation, and ‘that every fact is going to get out,’ said the source, who added that the smiles between the two men ended when the photo op did. The source presented this view of a tougher White House approach to the situation amid growing bipartisan criticism of the Trump administration’s handling of the suspected murder of the Washington Post journalist at the hands of a Saudi hit squad in Istanbul on October 2.”
–Jamie Gangel and Nicole Gaouette, “Pompeo warns Saudi prince his future as king is in peril over Khashoggi, source says,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, October 17, 2018 9:31 pm