US President, under pressure to act over suspected death of Saudi scribe, says he will get to the bottom of issue, but won't cancel $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia
US President Donald Trump (right) with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Pic/AFP
US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he is against cancelling the USD 110 billion mega arms deal with Saudi Arabia as this will hurt America's economy and jobs. Under tremendous pressure from the media and the Congress for taking some action against Saudi Arabia, after the sudden disappearance of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, Trump said he is trying to get at the bottom of the issue and has sought details of it from Saudi Arabia, which has denied the allegations so far.
Trump said that he plans to call the Saudi King on this issue. "I will be also calling King Salman of Saudi Arabia, because I think it's appropriate for me to ask him what is going on," he said. He, however, said that he is against cancelling the USD 110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia because of this. Such a move, he asserted, would have an impact on jobs in the US.
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Trump said by taking such a step, the US would be hurting itself. "I actually think we'd be punishing ourselves if we did that. There are other things we can do that are very, very powerful, very strong. We will do that," he said.
'China not ready for a trade deal yet'
Trump said on Sunday that China, under pressure due to his policies, wanted to have a trade deal with him, but he told them a week ago that they were not ready yet. "They've made too much money for too long. What they've done to our country is take out anywhere from USD 300 billion to USD 500 billion a year...I have great respect for China and for President Xi. We'll probably make a deal, but I don't think they're ready," Trump said.
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