President Donald Trump’s embrace of Saudi Arabia has exposed a foreign policy rift in the Republican Party, as some of his colleagues warn that not punishing the kingdom for its role in killing a US-based columnist will have dangerous consequences.
Many Republicans, even senators Lindsey Graham and Rand Paul, who share their views on the matter with the president, have denounced Mr Trump’s decision not to levy harsher penalties on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the death and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the influential Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday he was “astounded” by Mr Trump’s statement and likened it to a press release for Saudi Arabia.
“It is a delicate situation when we have a long-term ally that we’ve had for decades, but we have a crown prince that I believe ordered the killing of a journalist,” Mr Corker told Chattanooga TV station WTVC in his home state of Tennessee.
“We don’t have a smoking gun. Everything points to the fact that he knew about it and directed it.”
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