US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin quietly meets Saudi crown prince, as Khashoggi murder outcry rages on
- Monday’s meeting went unannounced by the US Treasury Department – but a photo was released by the Saudi foreign ministry
- Prince Mohammed bin Salman used the meeting to ‘stress the importance of the Saudi-US strategic partnership’
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday, illustrating how the White House is retaining close ties with the embattled Middle Eastern leader despite a growing international outcry.
A photograph of the meeting was posted on the Saudi Arabian foreign ministry’s Twitter page. In a caption, the Saudi government wrote that bin Salman in the meeting “stresses the importance of the Saudi-US strategic partnership, where it holds an important role in the future in line with the Kingdom’s #Vision2030.”
A Treasury Department spokesman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Mnuchin last week announced he was withdrawing from a conference in Saudi Arabia this week, amid the international backlash following the apparent murder of Washington Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi died at the Saudi consulate in Turkey earlier this month, though the Saudi Arabian government has given conflicting reports on how he died.
Tony Sayegh, Mnuchin’s top spokesman, wrote his own Twitter post on Monday but did not specifically reference the gathering with the Crown Prince.