There is a moment of truth for Donald Trump coming rapidly. Does he represent an America concerned about human rights and being the moral compass of the world? Or does he care more about the money involved, both government and private?
The New York Times reports one of the suspects identified by Turkey in the disappearance of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi was a frequent companion of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — seen disembarking from airplanes with him in Paris and Madrid and photographed standing guard during his visits this year to Houston, Boston and the United Nations.
Three others are linked by witnesses and other records to the Saudi crown prince’s security detail.
A fifth is a forensic doctor who holds senior positions in the Saudi Interior Ministry and medical establishment, a figure of such stature that he could be directed only by a high-ranking Saudi authority.
If, as the Turkish authorities say, these men were present at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul where Khashoggi disappeared on Oct. 2, they might provide a direct link between what happened and Prince Mohammed.
Jamal Khashoggi, American resident and columnist for The Washington Post.
That would undercut any suggestion that Khashoggi died in a rogue operation – floated by Trump – unsanctioned by the crown prince. Their connection to him could also make it more difficult for the White House and Congress to accept such an explanation.
Turkish officials have said they possess evidence that the 15 Saudi agents flew into Istanbul on Oct. 2, assassinated Khashoggi, dismembered his body with a bone saw they had brought for the purpose, and flew out the same day.
Records show that two private jets chartered by a Saudi company with close ties to the Saudi crown prince and Interior Ministry arrived and left Istanbul on the day of Khashoggi’s disappearance.
Where this evidence is headed for Trump poses both political and personal challenges.
First, Saudi Arabia has been the linchpin of the administration’s Middle East strategy. In particular, the Trump administration has been counting on them to keep the pressure on Iran, to help fight ISIS in Syria, and to twist the arms of the Palestinians.
Saudi Arabia is one of the few places on earth where the president is more popular than Barack Obama was during his presidency.
That means a lot to the man who has spent two years trying to erase the memory of Obama (yet, still has failed to provide the evidence that the former president was not born in America, as Trump insisted for years).
Second, and most importantly, Trump personally likes Saudi Arabia because he’s done millions and millions of dollars worth of business there.
Son-in-law Jared Kushner also has a massive amount of business dealings in Saudi Arabia. In fact, the United States has no ambassador accredited in Riyadh. Instead, the relationship is in the hands of Kushner, which in itself could be a massive financial conflict that no one seems to care about.
Trump registered eight companies during his presidential campaign that were tied to hotel interests in Saudi Arabia.
During a rally in 2015, the day Trump created four of those companies, he said he gets along well with Saudi Arabia.
“They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”
After his election, Trump said on Fox News he “would want to protect Saudi Arabia.”
He has been doing just that, questioning all evidence by Turkey and US intelligence agencies, and even floating the idea about “rogue killers.”
The crown prince and his father, King Salman, have denied any knowledge of Mr. Khashoggi’s whereabouts, repeatedly asserting that he left the consulate freely. Saudi officials did not respond to requests for comment for this article.
But in the last few days, as major American businesses have withdrawn from a marquee investment conference in Riyadh and members of Congress have stepped up calls for sanctions, the United States, Turkey and Saudi Arabia appear to have been searching for a face-saving way out.
The royal court was expected to acknowledge that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, and to blame an intelligence agent for botching an operation to interrogate Mr. Khashoggi that ended up killing him.
But such explanations would run up against a host of hard-to-explain obstacles.
The suspects’ positions in the Saudi government and their links to the crown prince could make it more difficult to absolve him of responsibility.
The presence of a forensic doctor who specializes in autopsies suggests the operation may have had a lethal intent from the start.