Trump official defends planned visit to Saudi Arabia

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday defended his decision to visit Saudi Arabia amid turmoil over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“We have an important relationship with Saudi, focused on combating terrorist financing and focused on our common interests of stopping Iran’s spread of both terrorism and other issues,” Mnuchin said Sunday in Jerusalem, according to The New York Times. “I am going to go there and meet with my counterparts and continue to focus on what’s in the Treasury’s domain, as it relates to this issue.”

{mosads}President Trump previously pulled Mnuchin out of an appearance at a major economic conference being hosted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week in Riyadh.

“I did not think it was appropriate to go and speak at the conference,” Mnuchin said Sunday, according to the Times.

However, Mnuchin announced last week that he would still attend an upcoming anti-terrorism conference in Riyadh later this month.

The decision to carry on diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia has been criticized on both sides of the aisle following the suspicious disappearance of Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for The Washington Post who lived in Virginia.

Khashoggi disappeared earlier this month after entering the Saudi embassy in Turkey. Saudi Arabia admitted last week that Khashoggi was killed while in the embassy, but claimed it was the result of a fist fight.

The explanation was met with skepticism, including from Trump, who told The Washington Post “obviously there’s been deception, and there’s been lies.”

Mnuchin called it a “terrible situation,” according to the Times.

“I think the human rights issues are very important issues, and I think that the United States needs to play a leadership role on human rights,” he reportedly said.

“I’m sure I’ll be speaking with the president before I go there,” he added, according to the Times. “If he has a message that he wants me to deliver, I will obviously deliver it. That is not the focus of my trip.”