President Biden triggered an announcement Monday about Saudi Arabia on Saturday after the release of an official report accusing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of ordering the operation that killed Jamal Khashoggi.
Biden told reporters on the White House lawn: “There will be an announcement on Monday about what we will do with Saudi Arabia in general.”
Biden was responding to a question from The Post about whether he would punish the 35-year-old Crown Prince, who is the de facto ruler of the oil-rich kingdom.
A report by American officials released on Friday says the prince, commonly known by his initials MBS, ordered the 2018 attack on Khashoggi.
Biden spoke to the prince’s father, King Salman, 85, on Thursday, before the report was released.
On Friday, the Biden government announced sanctions against dozens of Saudis identified as involved in the assassination of Khashoggi, but none against the Crown Prince.
Khashoggi was a Virginia resident and columnist for the Washington Post when he was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish authorities say Khashoggi was strangled and quartered with a bone saw.
Former President Donald Trump argued that the U.S.-Saudi strategic alliance was too important to be risky in punishing Saudi Arabia for Khashoggi’s death, which occurred when the Crown Prince consolidated power.
But some proponents say the United States should use its influence to force the prince’s resignation.
Saudi courts sentenced to death five people who were allegedly involved in Khashoggi’s death, but these sentences were later converted to 20 years in prison. Saudi Arabia’s legal system did not prosecute the Crown Prince.
Biden has already changed the US-Saudi Arabia relationship, ending US support for the long-halted Saudi military campaign to restore Yemen’s president, Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who was ousted in 2015 by an Iranian allied militia that still controls the most of the country’s population areas.