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(Bloomberg) – President Donald Trump said the United States would be "stupid" to cancel arms deals with Saudi Arabia in response to the controversy surrounding the fate of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi .
At an event at the White House with American pastor Andrew Brunson, who arrived in Washington after being released in Turkey, Trump said that China and Russia would be ready to invest and to start in business.
In an excerpt from an interview with "60 Minutes" earlier in the day, the president added pressure on the kingdom, promising "severe punishment" if the kingdom's rulers were linked to his disappearance. He said the United States could take strong action that it has not specified.
"Nobody knows" if the Saudi authorities are involved although they "vehemently deny it," Trump said in an excerpt of the CBS News broadcast recorded Thursday and broadcast Sunday night. "It's very, very watched. We would be very angry and angry if that was the case. "
"We will get to the bottom of things and the penalties will be severe," said the president during an interview with CBS. "Could it be them? Yes."
Khashoggi, a Saudi regime critic, has not been seen since entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to retrieve a document for his upcoming marriage. Turkish officials said they had audio and video footage showing a Saudi security team arrested in Khashoggi at the consulate before killing and dismembering him, the Post reported. Saudi officials said Khashoggi had left the building unharmed.
The affair eclipses the three-day Future Investment Initiative, known as "Davos in the Desert," which is set to begin in Riyadh in just two weeks. The event aims to present the modernization plan of Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the desert kingdom.
"What would have happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if it turned out, would clearly change the ability of each of us to do business with the Saudi government," said billionaire Richard Branson, who suspended talks with the government. Saudi Public Investment Fund on possible participation in its space companies Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit. He also announced that he was suspending his duties as a director in tourism projects in Saudi Arabia.
Other business leaders who said they would not attend the summit because of the Khashoggi case include Bob Bakish, chief executive officer of Viacom Inc .; Patrick Soon-Shiong, owner of the Los Angeles Times; Joanna Popper, executive of HP Inc .; Andy Rubin, creator of the Android mobile operating system; and Rodger Novak, co-founder of Crispr Therapeutics AG.
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber Technologies Inc., will not attend the meeting "unless very different facts come up". Several companies, including Bloomberg, withdrew from the event as media partners.
US lawmakers have threatened to take action against the kingdom, such as blocking arms sales.
In the "60 Minutes" interview, Trump said the new shares should not jeopardize Saudi military equipment contracts held by companies such as Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Co., which he says would put jobs at risk.
"Hard word"
"I do not want to hurt jobs. I do not want to lose such an order, "he said. "There are other ways to punish, to use a word that is hard enough, but it is true."
Trump's reluctance to retaliate against the kingdom reflects the close ties the White House has with the country's de facto ruler, the Crown Prince, and his administration's consent to other Saudi actions that have sparked international condemnation.
Under Trump, the United States continued to support a Saudi bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen, which killed thousands of civilians, providing logistical support and weapons to the United States.
Part of Prince Mohammed's plan to reshape the Saudi economy is to attract foreign direct investment into the kingdom. In an interview with Bloomberg last week, he said that this three-day event would see the sealing of an important investment agreement in the non-oil economy.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde told reporters in Bali, Indonesia on Saturday that they are still planning to attend.
"Horrible things have been reported and I am horrified. But I have to lead the IMF's business around the world, "said Lagarde in Bali, where the IMF's annual meetings are being held.
This is not the first time that the controversy has overshadowed the FII event. Dozens of businessmen, princes and kingdom officials were gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel just days after the conference last year as part of this that the government has described as repression of corruption.
Last year, Prince Mohammed used the FII to unveil plans for Neom, a $ 500 billion high-tech megacity. This initiative brought Ernest Moniz, former US Secretary of Energy, to his advisory board. Sam Altman, president of technology incubator Y Combinator, has suspended his participation on the board of Neom. Moniz acted the same way until he knew more about Khashoggi's fate, Axios reported.
