--- title: Trump: No Plan to Punish Saudi Arabia Over Khashoggi Murder description: President Trump rejected the idea of imposing additional penalties on Saudi Arabia for its role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi canonical: https://time.com/5460281/trump-saudi-arabia-penalties-khashoggi/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-20T18:24:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:06:15.482Z article:section: Politics og:title: President Trump Doesn't Plan to Further Punish Saudi Arabia Over Jamal Khashoggi's Murder og:description: "We may never know all of the facts," Trump said og:url: https://time.com/5460281/trump-saudi-arabia-penalties-khashoggi/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ac188f1b82596f/69893f988fd2eef21c35d2e2/trump-saudi-arabia-khashoggi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: trump-saudi-arabia-khashoggi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: President Trump Doesn't Plan to Further Punish Saudi Arabia Over Jamal Khashoggi's Murder twitter:description: "We may never know all of the facts," Trump said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt23ac188f1b82596f/69893f988fd2eef21c35d2e2/trump-saudi-arabia-khashoggi.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Doesn't Plan to Further Punish Saudi Arabia Over Jamal Khashoggi's Murder > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1d234351-fd99-49d9-bb8d-1c40d6b59867&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Mike Dorning / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Mike Dorning / Bloomberg Contributor Nov 20, 2018 6:24 PM UTC  A man holds a poster showing images of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman and of journalist writer Jamal Khashoggi, describing the prince as "assassin" and Khashoggi as "martyr" during funeral prayers in absentia for Khashoggi who was killed last month in the Saudi Arabia consulate, in Istanbul, on Nov. 16, 2018. A man holds a poster showing images of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman and of journalist writer Jamal Khashoggi, describing the prince as "assassin" and Khashoggi as "martyr" during funeral prayers in absentia for Khashoggi who was killed last month in the Saudi Arabia consulate, in Istanbul, on Nov. 16, 2018. Emrah Gurel—AP/REX/Shutterstock by [Mike Dorning / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Mike Dorning / Bloomberg Contributor Nov 20, 2018 6:24 PM UTC (Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump rejected the idea of imposing additional penalties on Saudi Arabia for its role in the killing of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi, stressing the importance of the U.S. alliance with kingdom. In a statement headlined “America First!” Trump argued on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia provided a crucial bulwark against Iran in the region and buys billions of dollars worth of U.S. weapons. That, he signaled, outweighed the “horrible crime” committed against Khashoggi, a contributor to the Washington Post and critic of the crown prince. “The world is a very dangerous place!” Trump said in the statement. Trump over the weekend had promised the U.S. would issue a “very full report” on the killing by Tuesday following media reports that the CIA concluded Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the killing. Trump suggested he would push back against any efforts by Congress to impose additional punishment on the kingdom after his administration sanctioned 17 individuals alleged to have participated in the murder. “It could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump said in a statement Tuesday. “That being said, we may never know all of the facts surrounding the murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi,” he added. Several news organizations including the Washington Post and New York Times reported that the CIA has concluded the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s assassination at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last month, contradicting the kingdom’s claim he wasn’t involved in the murder. CIA officials have high confidence in their conclusion, which is based on multiple sources of intelligence, the Post reported. Trump said in his statement the U.S. “intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. 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