In Trump's Saudi Bargain, the Bottom Line Proudly Wins Out
WASHINGTON When President Trump made Saudi Arabia his first foreign destination after taking office last year, he struck what amounted to a fundamental bargain with the royal family: He would not lecture them about human rights, and they would buy plenty of American weapons and military hardware.
So as the world recoils at reports that the Saudis sent agents to Turkey to kill and dismember a Saudi dissident journalist with a bone saw, Mr. Trump faces the most profound test of that trade-off. For days, he has rebuffed pressure to punish the Saudis by canceling arms sales that he secured during his visit, arguing that it would cost Americans money and jobs.
That he would prioritize potentially tens of billions of dollars for the United States over moral outrage about the apparent death of a single dissident may not be a major surprise. Other presidents have tempered concerns about human rights overseas with what they perceived to be Americas own security or economic interests. What is different is how open Mr. Trump has been in expressing that realpolitik calculation no matter how crass or cynical it might appear.
Any presidents going to be stuck in this awkward place, said Steven A. Cook, a specialist on the region at the Council on Foreign Relations. The one thing about Trump is hes basically willing to say: I dont really care. Hes not an American citizen. Yes, its terrible, but weve got all this business with them. He doesnt shy away from saying that.
But that approach could put Mr. Trump on a collision course with Congress, where there is sentiment among members of both parties to use the leverage of arms sales to send a message to Saudi Arabia that it cannot get away with killing a journalist with American ties on foreign soil.
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