WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is lashing out at President Donald Trump after the president argued that canceling Saudi arms deals worth billions of dollars to U.S. defense companies would only benefit Russia and China.
Some of Trump’s GOP colleagues have warned that not punishing Saudi Arabia for its role in killing a U.S.-based columnist will have dangerous consequences.
Critics have accused the president of ignoring human rights and giving the kingdom a pass for economic reasons.
Trump said his rationale for his decision was “America First.”
Gabbard tweeted Wednesday that “being Saudi Arabia’s bitch is not ‘America First.’”
Messages left with the Hawaii Democrat’s office seeking further comment were not immediately returned.
Many Republicans — even Sens. Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul, who share their views on the matter with the president — have denounced Trump’s decision not to levy harsher penalties on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the death and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Sen. Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday he was “astounded” by Trump’s statement and likened it to a press release for Saudi Arabia.
“It is a delicate situation when we have a long-term ally that we’ve had for decades, but we have a crown prince that I believe ordered the killing of a journalist,” Corker told Chattanooga TV station WTVC in his home state of Tennessee. “We don’t have a smoking gun. Everything points to the fact that he knew about it and directed it.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended Trump’s decision, saying the U.S. has already placed sanctions on 17 Saudi officials suspected of involvement in the Oct. 2 killing of The Washington Post columnist, who had been critical of the royal family.
“We’ve sanctioned 17 people — some of them very senior in the Saudi government,” Pompeo said Wednesday in a radio interview with KCMO in Kansas City, Missouri. “We are going to make sure that America always stands for human rights.”
Graham, R-S.C., isn’t convinced. “When we lose our moral voice, we lose our strongest asset,” he said.
Members of both parties have accused Trump of ignoring U.S. intelligence that concluded, according to one U.S. official, that it was likely the crown prince ordered the killing. Several lawmakers have indicated that the U.S. has no “smoking gun” that proves he was responsible, but they have called on the CIA and other top intelligence agencies to publicly share what they told the president about the slaying.
In his statement Tuesday, Trump argued that punishing Saudi Arabia by “foolishly canceling” Saudi arms deals worth billions of dollars to the U.S. would only benefit Russia and China. Critics, including high-ranking officials in other countries, accused Trump of ignoring human rights and giving Saudi Arabia a pass for economic reasons.
Trump also said the U.S. needs Saudi Arabia’s help to counter Iran in the region, fight extremism and keep oil prices steady. The U.S., Russia and the Saudis have boosted oil production in anticipation of sharply lower exports from Iran due to U.S. sanctions reinstated after Trump exited the Iran nuclear deal.
Trump publicly thanked Saudi Arabia on Wednesday for plunging oil prices. However, OPEC, the cartel of oil-producing countries, could announce production cuts at its Dec. 6 meeting in Vienna, nudging prices upward.
“Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!” he wrote from his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, where he’s spending Thanksgiving.
Criticism of the president will likely resume after the holiday when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill early next week.
Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Maria Danilova and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.