"It's a Mean & Nasty World Out There," Declares Trump in Defense of Khashoggi Murder. "Happy Thanksgiving to All!"

Published on

Thursday, November 22, 2018

by

Common Dreams

In a Thanksgiving Day rise-and-shine pair of tweets, U.S. president takes first moment to once again defend murderous Saudi royal family before wishing the nation a joyous holiday

by

Jon Queally, staff writer

 7 Comments

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a turkey pardoning event as one of the two candidate turkeys Peas stands on a table at the Rose Garden of the White House November 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

First things first.

Continuing his multi-day public relations blitz to insulate the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from accountability over its brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, President Donald Trump issued a pair of tweets early Thursday—the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States—that began by quoting Secretary of Defense Mike Pompeo's line that "it's a mean & nasty world out there" in order to qualify the brutal assassination.

Less than four minutes later, Trump followed it up with this all-caps declaration: "HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!"

As former Italian diplomat Marco Carnelos wrote in the Middle East Eye on Wednesday, Trump's continued defense of the Saudis in the name of U.S. economic and strategic interests is an explicit admission that Trump has placed a price tag on the worth of Khashoggi's life.

The U.S. president's defense of the Saudis, writes Carnelos, has been "an extraordinary demonstration of realpolitik. Because the world is a very dangerous place, the United States will continue to support Saudi Arabia, no matter what. But the real purpose of Trump's statement on Saudi [on Tuesday] is actually to fix a price for this support.

"The hidden message that the statement was sending to the Saudi royal court is that to save himself the Saudi crown prince will be expected to disburse $450bn in investments."

It was not an isolated interpretation:

The Washington Post

✔@washingtonpost

After Khashoggi's killing, Trump sent a clear signal: With enough money, you can get away with murder, The Post's publisher writes http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-dangerous-message-to-tyrants-flash-money-and-get-away-with-murder/2018/11/21/4202e69e-edc2-11e8-8679-934a2b33be52_story.html …

2,670

4:18 AM - Nov 22, 2018

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Opinion | Trump’s dangerous message to tyrants: Flash money and get away with murder

We do not make the world safer by abandoning our commitment to basic freedoms and human rights.

washingtonpost.com

1,973 people are talking about this

Not that the U.S. government standing with murderous regimes and shielding others and itself from mass human rights violations is anything new.

Glenn Greenwald

✔@ggreenwald

If even one more US foreign policy elite pops up to pretend that sanctioning barbarism by Saudi Arabia (& other despots) in exchange for monetary and security benefits is something that Trump invented, I think I may literally vomit. https://theintercept.com/2018/11/21/trumps-amoral-saudi-statement-is-a-pure-and-honest-expression-of-decades-old-u-s-values-and-foreign-policy-orthodoxies/ …

Aaron David Miller

✔@aarondmiller2

In a mere 633 words, Trump undermined CIA credibility, boosted that of a murderous repressive regime, emptied US foreign policy of any moral principle and hyperventilated on what Saudi can offer US. In 25 years working for Rs/Ds never saw presidential cred so badly compromised.

418

6:28 PM - Nov 22, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving.

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