--- title: Senators Demand President Trump Disclose Saudi Business Ties description: A group of 11 Senators demanded President Trump disclose his family's business ties to Saudi Arabia after Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance canonical: https://time.com/5428088/senators-trump-business-saudi-arabia/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-18T08:22:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T21:46:30.876Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senators Demand President Trump Disclose Saudi Business Ties og:description: The request comes amid the investigation into missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi og:url: https://time.com/5428088/senators-trump-business-saudi-arabia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48dce28f2afc5105/69893ce5bc6cfc7c6a3e737b/gettyimages-1052166428.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Donald Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senators Demand President Trump Disclose Saudi Business Ties twitter:description: The request comes amid the investigation into missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48dce28f2afc5105/69893ce5bc6cfc7c6a3e737b/gettyimages-1052166428.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senators Call on President Trump to Disclose Business Ties to Saudi Arabia by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Oct 18, 2018 8:22 AM UTC  President Donald Trump shows off posters as he talks with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during a meeting at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump shows off posters as he talks with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during a meeting at the White House on March 20, 2018 in Washington, DC.Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Oct 18, 2018 8:22 AM UTC A group of Senators are demanding President Donald Trump and his sons [disclose](https://www.axios.com/11-senators-ask-trump-saudi-business-d246895d-7b1c-4ff1-8cda-fd42d608fac6.html) information about the family’s business ties to Saudi Arabia following the disappearance of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The 11 Senators, all Democrats, asked Trump to reveal any business ties between the Trump Organization and Saudi officials. In a letter published by Axios on Wednesday, the Senators requested that Trump “commit to suspending any ongoing business relationships” with the Saudis while the investigation into Khashoggi’s disappearance is ongoing. “Your recent statements, and public reports of increased spending by the Saudi government at Trump properties, raise significant concerns about financial conflicts of interest,” the Senators wrote. > [](https://twitter.com/SenatorTomUdall/status/1052661552204136468) **Read more**: [_Donald Trump: List of His Biggest Conflicts of Interest_](http://time.com/4578431/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interest-list/) Khashoggi, a Saudi national and Washington _Post_ columnist, was [last seen entering](http://time.com/5416396/jamal-khashoggi-saudi-arabia-journalist-missing/) the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 2\. Based on alleged video and audio evidence, Turkish officials have drawn a grisly picture of Khashoggi’s execution by a specially dispatched [Saudi security team](http://time.com/5420263/saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi-assassination-squad/). On Wednesday, the New York _Times,_ citing a Turkish official, reported that [audio recordings](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/world/europe/turkey-saudi-khashoggi-dismember.html?emc=edit%5Fmbae%5F20181017&nl=morning-briefing-asia&nlid=7605347020181017&te=1) from inside the Saudi consulate reveal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered within minutes of arriving. But Trump has declined to forcefully challenge Saudi Arabia over the dissident’s disappearance. Instead, he has defended the value of American [arms sales](http://time.com/5424150/trump-saudi-arabia-arms-deal/) to Saudi Arabia and emphasized that Khashoggi was [not an American citizen](http://time.com/5427224/president-trump-saudi-arabia-khashoggi-citizen/). On Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. has asked for the audio and video recordings in the Khashoggi case, but [cast doubt](http://time.com/5427224/president-trump-saudi-arabia-khashoggi-citizen/) on whether such evidence actually exists. **Read more**: [_We Must Use the Global Magnitsky Act to Punish the Killers of Jamal Khashoggi_](http://time.com/5424504/bill-browder-khashoggi-magnitsky-act-saudi-arabia/) The Senators’ letter cited big-ticket past transactions between Trump and members of the Saudi royal family, including the [$325 million sale](https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/12/business/trump-is-selling-plaza-hotel-to-saudi-and-asian-investors.html) of New York’s Plaza Hotel in 1995 “in a deal to pay off Trump Organization debts.” The letter also cited an Associated Press report that showed in 2001, Trump sold the [entire 45th floor](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/i-love-the-saudis-trump-business-ties-to-kingdom-run-deep/2018/10/12/bcc0eda4-ce78-11e8-ad0a-0e01efba3cc1%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on) of the Trump World Tower to Saudi Arabia for $12 million. As Trump’s presidential campaign was getting underway in 2016, he also [registered eight companies](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/a-scramble-to-assess-the-dangers-of-president-elects-global-business-empire/2016/11/20/1bbdc2a2-ad18-11e6-a31b-4b6397e625d0%5Fstory.html?noredirect=on) in Saudi Arabia that appeared connected to hotel deals in the country. On Monday, Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1052186219696803841) that he has “no financial interests in Saudi Arabia.” Last week, a bipartisan group of 22 Senators [triggered an investigation](http://time.com/5421383/senate-probe-saudi-arabia-jamal-khashoggi/) of Saudi Arabia under the Global Magnitsky Act. The results of the probe could see Saudi officials face sanctions including asset freezes and visa bans. “It is imperative that this sanctions determination, and U.S. policy towards Saudi Arabia generally, are not influenced by any conflicts of interest that may exist because of your or your family’s deep financial ties to Saudi Arabia,” the Senate Democrats wrote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5428088/senators-trump-business-saudi-arabia/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5428088/senators-trump-business-saudi-arabia/"},"headline":"Senators Call on President Trump to Disclose Business Ties to Saudi Arabia","datePublished":"2018-10-18T08:22:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:46:30.876Z","description":"The request comes in the wake of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi","url":"https://time.com/5428088/senators-trump-business-saudi-arabia/","keywords":["Congress","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48dce28f2afc5105/69893ce5bc6cfc7c6a3e737b/gettyimages-1052166428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt48dce28f2afc5105/69893ce5bc6cfc7c6a3e737b/gettyimages-1052166428.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"President Donald Trump","caption":"President Donald Trump","creditText":"Jabin Botsford—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5428088/senators-trump-business-saudi-arabia/","name":"Senators Call on President Trump to Disclose Business Ties to Saudi Arabia"}}]}] ```