Why Trump Warned Saudi Arabia for Punishment?

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The U.S President Donald Trump warned of “severe punishment” if Saudi Arabia to be found behind the suspected death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump stopped short of threatening to ban arms deals with the Saudis. He claimed that such sanctions would just hurt jobs in the U.S defense industry. The U.S President announced that U.S authorities were now investigating the suspected torture and killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy in Turkey on 2 October 2018.

He informed CBS News in his first 60 Minutes interview, “It’s being investigated, it’s being looked at very, very strongly”. Trump said that the United States would be “very upset and angry” if the Saudi authorities were found responsible. He added, “They deny it every way you can imagine”. “In the not too distant future, I think we’ll know the answer. We’re going to get to the bottom of it and there will be severe punishment”.

The President said he is hopeful that Khashoggi was still alive. He informed reporter, “Our first hope was that he was not killed but maybe that’s not looking too good from what we hear but there’s a lot to learn, there really is”. Trump said that he will meet with the family of Khashoggi but added that he had not yet discussed the case with Saudi King Salman.

A delegation from Saudi Arabia arrived in Turkey on Friday. It would be a part of the investigation into the disappearance of the reporter. The Turkish foreign ministry said that the Saudi consulate in Istanbul would be searched as part of the probe. Khashoggi was a critic of the Saudi authorities. he had reportedly been banned from writing in newspapers, making TV appearances or attending conferences in Saudi Arabia because he criticized Donald Trump following his victory in the U.S presidential election 2016.