Amid anger at his lack of punishment towards Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, U.S. President Donald Trump has doubled down and thanked the country for a different issue.
“Oil prices getting lower. Great! Like a big Tax Cut for America and the World. Enjoy! $54, was just $82. Thank you to Saudi Arabia, but let’s go lower!” Trump wrote.
Saudi Arabia, along with Russia and the U.S. have stepped up oil production in light of U.S. sanctions against Iran.
The praise comes one day after Trump refused to commit to a stance on whether Saudi Prince Mohammed knew about the killing of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and Saudi critic who was lured to the Saudi embassy in Turkey and brutally murdered.
“Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event — maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” Trump wrote in a letter.
He added that “we may never know” all the facts about the murder, but America’s relationship with Saudi Arabia remains in place.
The CIA believes Khashoggi’s death was ordered directly by the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler widely known by his initials MbS, sources familiar with the matter have said.
WATCH: Saudi FM on Khashoggi: ‘We as a government had nothing to do with it’
He also noted the U.S.’s business deals with Saudi Arabia, and the country’s role in fighting terrorism.
WATCH: Trump reiterates ‘maybe he did, maybe he didn’t’ statement on if Saudi Arabia prince ordered Khashoggi’s killing
Critics decried Trump’s letter, with some even calling it comical.
“Yesterday’s statement is a comic statement,” the president of Turkey’s ruling party Numan Kirtulmus said.
“It is not possible for an intelligence agency such as the CIA, which even knows the colour of the fur on the cat walking around the Saudi consulate’s garden … to not know who gave this order,” he said. “This is not credible either for US public opinion or the world public opinion.”
WATCH: Trump says keeping relationship with Saudi Arabia despite Khashoggi case is about ‘America First’
A number of U.S. lawmakers, including some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, pushed back sharply on his assessment.
Republican congressperson Lindsey Graham said it was “not in our national security interests to look the other way when it comes to the brutal murder of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi.”
WATCH: U.S. lawmakers slam Trump’s Saudi defense
Sen. Rand Paul, another Republican, called the move a “sign of weakness” and a “mistake.”
“It’s a sign of weakness not to stand up to Saudi Arabia,” Paul said. “Sometimes when you have two evils, maybe you don’t support either side.”
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Saudi Arabia minister speaks out on Khashoggi murder, stresses government had no hand in death -
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Washington Post editor denounces Trump’s comments on Khashoggi murder -
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Democrats shocked at Trump response to Khashoggi killing -
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Freeland says Khashoggi affair is not ‘closed’ despite U.S. response -
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Trump ‘not slow-moving’ on Khashoggi, Conway says -
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Some Saudi royals turn against crown prince after Khashoggi murder -
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Trump mum on what he’ll do if Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince lied to him
Despite Trump’s declaration that the relationship between U.S. and Saudi Arabia will remain unchanged, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday the Khashoggi case is not closed.
“Canada very much does not consider the Khashoggi affair to be closed,” Freeland said at an Ottawa press Tuesday.
WATCH: Freeland says Khashoggi affair is not ‘closed’ despite U.S. response
— with files from Global News’ Maham Abedi and Reuters
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