Saudi Arabia celebrates as Trump gives Riyadh a pass in journalist's killing.
AMMAN, Jordan - "To the whole world ... Saudi Arabia first."
So read the front page of Okaz Online, the Saudi daily newspaper's website, published hours after President Donald Trump issued what amounted to a pass for Riyadh on Tuesday over the slaying and dismemberment of Saudi journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump's statement - which excoriated Iran, exaggerated Saudi Arabia's U.S. investments and only mentioned Khashoggi's killing in the fifth paragraph - was celebrated in the kingdom.
In the 633-word statement, Trump cast doubt on the CIA's reported high degree of confidence that Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the journalist's killing and sent his allies to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to carry it out on Oct. 2.
"He took the decision yesterday that the relationship with Saudi Arabia is a strategic one and that he wouldn't let the tragedy of Khashoggi affect this relationship," said Ahmad Farraj, a Saudi academic and commentator with the United Arab Emirates-based Trends Research and Advisory think tank.
Trump's statement "proved he was a true, solid leader," Farraj said in an interview Wednesday, claiming that other countries were trying to politicize Khashoggi's death to damage U.S.-Saudi relations. "He did not submit to the pressures," he said.
But Trump's clear indication of his priorities infuriated other parties in the region, including putative U.S. allies as well as those who have looked to Washington to further human rights in the area.
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