Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says he will not attend Saudi Arabia's investment conference

Steve Mnuchin.
(Image credit: Alex Wong / Getty Images)

Saudi Arabia's upcoming investment conference is continuing to fall apart.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced Thursday that he will no longer be attending the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia as originally planned.

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As recently as Monday, Mnuchin still planned to attend the conference, which was scheduled as a stop on his trip focused on fighting terrorist financing in the Middle East, The New York Times reports. But now, Mnuchin has changed his tune. The treasury secretary provided no further details about what went into his decision, but he said it came after he met with both President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo, who met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss Khashoggi's disappearance, said that he and Trump will give Saudi Arabia "a few more days" to complete an investigation into the matter, which the kingdom has assured will be "complete" and "thorough." Pompeo also emphasized that Saudi Arabia remains an "important counter-terrorism partner."

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.