Trump promises 'severe punishment' if missing journalist was murdered in Saudi consulate

published 13 October 2018

In a preview clip of a CBS interview to air Sunday, President Trump promised "severe punishment" for Saudi Arabia if it is confirmed, as Turkey alleges, that missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered last week inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

"Nobody knows yet" if the Turkish allegations are true, Trump told 60 Minutes host Lesley Stahl. "But we'll probably be able to find out," he continued. "It's being investigated. It's being looked at very strongly, and we'll be very upset and angry if that were the case."

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The president did not specify exactly what punishment he would prefer, though he shied away from proposals to cut off arms sales to Saudi Arabia, claiming that would lead to job losses in the U.S. defense industry. Trump also worked in a jab at the press in his remarks, noting Stahl would "be surprised to hear" him say there's "something really terrible and disgusting" about the murder of a journalist.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.