Stinging blow to Donald Trump as Senate votes to cut support for Saudi-backed fighting in Yemen

The Senate dealt a blow to US President Donald Trump
AP
David Gardner29 November 2018

The Senate dealt a stinging blow to Donald Trump today by voting to cut support for the Saudi-backed coalition fighting in Yemen.

In a surprise move, Republicans and Democrats joined forces to send a clear message to the President in the wake of the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Trump has so far resisted demands for sanctions against Saudi Arabia, insisting that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is not behind the killing, which took place on October 2 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

But senators rebuffed the White House stance, with an emphatic 63-37 vote to advance a resolution to withdraw US military support.

It comes in the wake of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi
REUTERS

The Senate also snubbed an appeal by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who defended the administration’s response to dissident Mr Khashoggi’s murder during a behind-closed-doors briefing on Capitol Hill.

Insisting there was “no direct reporting” linking the Crown Prince to the killing, Mr Pompeo added that taking a tougher line with Riyadh over the Yemen conflict would be “untimely” and wreck efforts to negotiate a ceasefire.

Thousands have been killed and millions left on the brink of starvation since an Arab coalition — led by the kingdom and backed by the UK, US and France — began an offensive in 2015 when Houthi rebels took control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

While the Senate measure is unlikely to pass through the House of Representatives, which retains a Republican majority until January, the rebuke was seen in Washington as a challenge to the Trump administration’s continued support for the oil-rich ally.

Senators were also furious that CIA director Gina Haspel did not attend the briefing, with many believing she was blocked by the White House because she has more concrete evidence that the Khashoggi cover-up went right to the top. The CIA’s assessment has not been made public.

Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said: “We have a problem here. We understand that Saudi Arabia is an ally, of sorts, and a semi-important country. We also have a Crown Prince that’s out of control.”

Meanwhile, Mr Trump also refused today to rule out a pardon for his former campaign chief Paul Manafort, who has been convicted of bank and tax fraud.

Earlier this week, Mr Manafort was accused by Special Counsel Robert Mueller of lying to investigators who are probing the campaign’s alleged Kremlin ties. “It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table,” Mr Trump said of a possible pardon.

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