President Trump “exchanged pleasantries” with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Friday amid lingering fallout from the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Mr. Trump said their encounter at the G-20 summit in Argentina was brief.
“We had no discussion. We might [later], but we had none,” the president told reporters.
A senior White House official said the two men “exchanged pleasantries at the leaders session.” The Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV stated that the two leaders “had a friendly meeting.”
Congress is pressuring Mr. Trump to punish Saudi Arabia for its role in the murder in October of Mr. Khashoggi, who was killed by Saudi operatives at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The Saudi government has denied that the royal family had any knowledge of the slaying and has arrested 18 men in connection with the crime.
Mr. Trump has said U.S. intelligence reports on the crime don’t establish conclusively whether the crown prince was involved in planning the murder or knew about it in advance.
“Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t,” Mr. Trump said last week. “He denies it.”
Several lawmakers who have seen intelligence reports say the CIA points blame at the crown prince.
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Source:Washington Times
