Donald Trump might not have started murdering journalists—yet—but he certainly is understanding when some other despot needs to silence a pesky voice of truth. And he’s not about to let a thing like clipping off a man’s fingers while he screams, or slicing up his body with a bone saw, get in the way of a good business relationship.
A U.N. report issued last Wednesday detailed the horrible circumstances of the capture, torture, dismemberment, and death of Washington Post contributor, and U. S. resident, Jamal Khashoggi. The conclusion of the report was near certainty that self-installed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was not just behind the kidnapping and murder, but aware of every step. The report also asked the United States to use its relationship with Saudi Arabia to insist on cooperation in an FBI investigation of the incident.
Now Trump has made it clear that that will not be happening. As The New York Times records, Trump says he values the dollars coming in from Mohammed bin Salman too much to risk losing them by holding the Saudi leader accountable for the horrible death and oven-roasting of just one little journalist. “I only say they spend $400 to $450 billion over a period of time, all money, all jobs, buying equipment,” said Trump. “I’m not like a fool that says, ‘We don’t want to do business with them.’ And by the way, if they don’t do business with us, you know what they do? They’ll do business with the Russians or with the Chinese.”
Someone else might say, Let them. Let them take their torture-and-murder business to someone else. But with Trump at the helm, disregard for human rights—right up to sending out hit squads equipped with a bone saw—isn’t a hindrance to doing business with the United States. And why not? After all, it’s not like those bombs we’re selling MBS are meant to tickle kids in Yemen.
Trump insists that Saudi Arabia is an important partner for the United States. And, sure, Khashoggi’s killing might seem nasty, but then, the Middle East is “a vicious, hostile place.” When men like Mohammed bin Salman are allowed to get away with torture and murder, it certainly is. And so is the White House.