Jared Kushner quietly met with the Saudi king and crown prince. Jamal Khashoggi's murder didn't come up.
While President Trump was arriving in Vietnam ahead of his visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, senior adviser Jared Kushner quietly met with the two most powerful men in Saudi Arabia.
Kushner, along with Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt and Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook, traveled to Saudi Arabia and spoke with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman on Tuesday.
The White House revealed the meeting on Wednesday, saying the group discussed increasing U.S.-Saudi cooperation, U.S. attempts to facilitate peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and economic investment in Saudi Arabia.
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In the past, Kushner has had a positive relationship with the Saudis and with the crown prince in particular. Bin Salman previously said he had Kushner "in his pocket," and the two have reportedly worked together strategically before.
After the murder of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi last October, the CIA said they had "high confidence" that bin Salman was responsible for ordering his death. Despite this conclusion, neither Kushner nor President Trump outwardly condemned bin Salman, and instead Kushner continued to provide advice to the crown prince on how to handle the media frenzy surrounding the murder. Kushner and bin Salman reportedly did not discuss Khashoggi on Tuesday.
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Marianne is The Week’s Social Media Editor. She is a native Tennessean and recent graduate of Ohio University, where she studied journalism and political science. Marianne has previously written for The Daily Beast, The Crime Report, and The Moroccan Times.
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