Donald Trump dispatched his top diplomat to Saudi Arabia to “get to the bottom” of the disappearance of dissident Jamal Khashoggi even as the US president signaled he was prepared to accept the kingdom’s denials of responsibility. Mr. Trump’s move to send Mike Pompeo, US secretary of state, to Riyadh came as the Khashoggi case threatened to isolate Riyadh internationally. Some of Wall Street’s highest-profile financiers, including Blackstone chief Stephen Schwarzman, have withdrawn from a major Saudi conference.
Mr Pompeo was to meet King Salman as early as Tuesday amid allegations that the kingdom’s leadership orchestrated Mr. Khashoggi’s killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this month. But while Mr. Trump said Mr. Pompeo was on a fact-finding mission, he added that “rogue killers” could be responsible. He noted that King Salman, during a phone call, had “firmly” denied culpability for Mr Khashoggi’s disappearance. “We are going to leave nothing uncovered,” Mr. Trump said. “We’re going to try to get to the bottom of it very soon, but his was a flat denial.”
We are going to leave nothing uncovered. We’re going to try to get to the bottom of it very soon, but his was a flat denial Donald Trump The case threatens to scupper the Future Investment Initiative, a star-studded “Davos in the desert” chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince. The young heir to King Salman has worked to attract foreign investment to the kingdom and open up its economy. In addition to Mr. Schwartzman, Larry Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, and JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon have withdrawn from the forum, scheduled for the end of the month.
All three have close ties to the Saudi regime and discussed the situation over the weekend, according to people briefed on the talks. Mr Fink gives regular briefings on the global economy to Yasir al-Rumayyan, managing director of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. JPMorgan has won advisory and financing roles for Saudi deals, while Blackstone and the Saudi sovereign wealth fund agreed last year to a $40bn infrastructure fund primarily to invest in the US. The Saudis committed $20bn to the fund.