Jamal Khashoggi: Trump gains strength, but the world could see weakness in reluctance to face the Saudis

When the then-candidate, Donald Trump, introduced his "America First" foreign policy, he argued that the nation led by President Obama had "absolutely no respect" and was "ridiculed in the whole world".

For Trump, it does not matter more than to project strength. And in his April 2016 speech, he swore again and again that he would be alone in making America strong again.

The challenge now facing President Trump is that his public reaction to the assassination of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which took place on Oct. 2, and his continued praise for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, could a lasting impression of weakness.

Despite a growing body of evidence suggesting that Mohammed has ordered the appalling murder committed by his henchmen at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Trump has so far refused to take steps to punish the Saudis. In fact, he greeted the Crown Prince, 33, who is the de facto head of the kingdom and the heir to the throne.

"It's a strong person," Trump said Saturday in an interview with the Washington Post. "He has very good control. . . He is perceived as a person capable of keeping things under control. I think it positively. "

The assassination of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen who lived in Virginia and wrote articles for the Washington Post, has become one of the most important foreign policy crises of the Trump presidency.

Some Trump advisers warned that if he let the Saudis get away with such a barbaric extrajudicial killing with impunity, he would not respect him as a strong leader, any more than the other authoritarian regimes of the world, including North Korea and Iran.

Senator Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.), Trump's ally who discussed the matter privately with him, said that it was incumbent on the president to "make clear in the Middle East that a new sheriff was in town. "

"This is one of the most important moments of his presidency," Graham said in an interview. "He must lead from the front. He must be the first to show that this is unacceptable and that our values ​​are the foundation of our foreign policy. "

For the moment, at least Trump has chosen to preserve his personal relationship with Saudi leaders, believing that this would bring long-term dividends to the United States in the form of arms sales.

Trump said there would be "severe punishment" if the Saudis were held responsible for killing Khashoggi, but no punishment was given. Indeed, he rejected calls from congressional leaders to sanction the kingdom or to end the US arms purchases he had promised. "So all they will do is go to Russia or China," Trump told The Post. "Everything we do hurts us."

The result, according to foreign policy experts, is an abdication of America's historic role as a world beacon of morality and human rights. Instead, Trump pursues a foreign policy shaped by his own commercial interests.

"It will strengthen the impression throughout the world that it's a different America, that we have become like everyone else. We also have a foreign policy that is not based on principles or values, "said Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. "This combination of amorality and commercialism is China's foreign policy – unconditional economic pursuits – and suddenly, it has become a US foreign policy."

Trump has long been obsessed with his strong appearance and likes to attack his weak enemies. One of his favorite reproaches is to accuse his enemies of "crying like a baby," and he has used baby imagery several times recently.

Where & # 39; a reporter asked Trump, a few days ago, looking for evidence to support his assertion that hardened criminals were crossing the border, the President replied, "Oh, he's sure you Please, do not be a baby. "And in CBS's" 60 Minutes "show last weekend, when Lesley Stahl Trump commented on North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's record of human rights. # 39; man. "I am not a baby. I know these things. "

Foreign policy analysts said that Kim, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other authorities around the world were probably studying how Trump was handling the Khashoggi episode to gauge America's willingness to to avenge the atrocities of human rights.

But while other leaders may regard Trump as weak, the president may consider himself strong to protect his investment in Saudi Arabia, according to David Axelrod, White House strategist under Obama.

"He can see strength as a willingness to stand up to the world's disapproval with an ally who, in his opinion, could be helpful," said Axelrod. "I think it's like that that he describes strength. Kim Jong Un is the worst human rights violator in the world. He killed his own brother. And Trump loves him because he thinks he's getting something out of it. "

Axelrod went on to explain that Trump "think the strength is, are you insightful? Do you have something about the transaction? For him, it's smart and it's strong. "

Some of the president's outside advisers agree.

Alan Dershowitz, a retired professor at the Harvard Law School of Law, who often talks about the Middle East with Trump, said that although the president must take a tougher stance with the Saudis, he should not compromise his relationship with the kingdom after the murder of Khashoggi.

"The president considers that force exerts a huge influence on events," said Dershowitz. "He can not put an end to the Saudi relationship. It would not be a show of force. "

Trump has complicated feelings about the Middle East and advisers say he does not have a thorough understanding of the region, although he is generally wary of any commitment.

On the one hand, Trump ranked the wars of former President George W. Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan among the biggest presidential mistakes in history. Yet he also blamed Obama for not retaliating against Syria after Bashar al-Assad crossed Obama's "red line" using chemical weapons.

One of Trump's motives for protecting the Saudis is the kingdom's position as a bulwark against Iran, a point he stressed in private debates but raised only sporadically in public.

"I think it's a very important ally for us. Especially when Iran is doing so many bad things in the world, it's a good counterweight to the world, "Trump said of Saudi Arabia in the Post interview. "They probably do not care about the situation as they see it. Iran is as perverted as possible.

But Graham said it was incumbent on the United States not to let the value of strategic alliances outweigh any other concerns.

"It is also important to understand that our values ​​are more important than money and jobs," he said. "One thing we do not want to do is lose our moral voice. It's more important than anything in the world. We are not the policeman of the world, but we are the glue that keeps him. "

Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Told CNN Sunday: "What we do not want, is a leader who will exist in 40 or 50 years and who will continue its operations around the world, and so, collectively, we must deal with it appropriately. "

After recounting Khashoggi's disappearance for two consecutive weeks, the Saudi kingdom claimed that the journalist was killed after a show of hands inside the consulate in Istanbul and released Mohammed from any responsibility.

The Saudi explanation provoked immediate skepticism and was condemned to lime because it contradicted statements by Turkish officials that a team of 15 Saudi agents – some of whom are close associates of Mohammed – went to Istanbul to kill and dismember Khashoggi.

"It's insulting to anyone who analyzes this with any kind of intelligent background to think that, oh, a fight has resulted in a dismemberment with a bone saw," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) m said on "Fox News Sunday."

Trump was reluctant to publicly challenge the Saudi story, but he made it clear in an interview with The Post on Saturday that it tarnished credulity.

"Obviously, there has been deception and lies," said the president.

Trump nevertheless refused to blame Mohammed.

"Nobody told me that he was responsible," he said. "Nobody told me that he was not responsible. We have not reached this point. . . I would love it if he was not responsible.