Why is President Trump letting the Saudis push him around?

America's moral authority isn't at stake in Saudi Arabia. Its practical authority is.

President Trump and Saudis.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images, jessicahyde/iStock)

President Trump famously hates to look weak. So why is he letting Saudi Arabia push him around?

The alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi intelligence agents would seem to provide ample justification for a harsh rebuke, if not something stronger. Khashoggi was an American resident, and he appears to have been killed within the Saudi consulate in Turkey. A more blatant violation of diplomatic norms would be hard to imagine. If the Saudis can just get away with that, the White House would seem to be saying they can get away with anything.

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Noah Millman

Noah Millman is a screenwriter and filmmaker, a political columnist and a critic. From 2012 through 2017 he was a senior editor and featured blogger at The American Conservative. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Politico, USA Today, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Modern Age, First Things, and the Jewish Review of Books, among other publications. Noah lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.