As Demands for US Probe Into Alleged Murder of Khashoggi Grow, Trump Says Halting Saudi Arms Sales 'Very Tough Pill to Swallow'

Nine days after journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, President Trump has expressed only vague concern over reports that he had been murdered by a Saudi “hit team”—and late on Wednesday he all but took off the table the possibility of cutting off arms sales to the Saudis if they are found responsible for Khashoggi’s likely death.

“We have jobs. We have a lot of things happening in this country. We have a country that’s doing probably better economically than it’s ever done before,” Trump said in a Fox News interview. “A part of that is what we are doing with our defense systems and everybody is wanting them and, frankly, I think [ending arms sales] would be a very, very tough pill to swallow for our country.”

The U.S. has sold more than $200 billion in weapons and military equipment to the Saudis in recent years, with Trump signing off on a $110 billion agreement weeks after taking office and the Obama administration offering the country $115 billion in arms sales. Since 2015, those sales have helped to fund Saudi Arabia’s air war in Yemen, which has killed more than 16,000 civilians and left millions displaced and on the verge of famine.

Khashoggi’s disappearance on October 2 has led nearly two dozen senators to call for the Trump administration to take action against the Saudis, who Turkish officials believe had the Washington Post columnist killed.

“We request that you make a determination on the imposition of sanctions pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act with respect to any foreign person responsible for such a violation related to Mr. Khashoggi,” wrote the bipartisan group of lawmakers in a letter to Trump on Wednesday. “Our expectation is that in making your determination you will consider any relevant information, including with respect to the highest-ranking officials in the government of Saudi Arabia.”

In thread posted to Twitter, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) also called for a full probe and said, “This is what happens when you embolden authoritarian dictators around the world.”