"In days of private phone calls and Oval Office huddles, Trump has repeatedly reached for reasons to protect the U.S.-Saudi relationship, according to administration officials and presidential advisers." Read @costareports @jdawsey1 @PhilipRucker https://t.co/Ya8kNrF6B4

— Juliet Eilperin (@eilperin) October 17, 2018

Trump has "clamped down" on sharing intelligence regarding Khashoggi. This is a patter- the Trump MO – using his position as President to prevent the truth about Russia, about Saudia Arabia, etc. from getting out. It's one of the most serious dangers of this Presidency. https://t.co/lMtDlZN0v1

— Mimi Rocah (@Mimirocah1) October 18, 2018

If the last few tweets were too wonky, on a different subject: it's quite wrong to suggest that Trump doesn't care that his Saudi friends may have murdered a critical journalist. Everything we know suggests that he approves of what they did.

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 17, 2018

Just now realizing: Khashoggi was banned in KSA was not because he was critical of Mohammad bin Salman, the devastation of Yemen, Wahhabism, or the Salafi movement. It was because, ON NOVEMBER 10, 2016, in DC, Khashoggi mildly criticized…Donald Trump. https://t.co/GeFh0nlJ0l

— Virginia Heffernan (@page88) October 17, 2018

Trump is now trying to help the barbaric Saudi monarchy cover-up the brutal murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. The Saudis saw an easy mark in Trump: a man who "loves" dictators; hates the press; and has compromising financial ties to the Saudi kingdom. My take: pic.twitter.com/kzlfi3fGuV

— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) October 18, 2018

This is actually a plausible, evidence-based theory of the case. That's where we're at in this country. https://t.co/ATGclEso74

— Susan Hennessey (@Susan_Hennessey) October 17, 2018

From covering up his own crimes to covering for a mad Saudi Prince whose initials translate into Mr. Bone Saw, Trump is again showing his brutal and deeply corrupt colors.https://t.co/WpmgqQQLkR

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) October 18, 2018

Trump on

Putin: He didn't do it
Porter: He didn't do it
Moore: He didn't do it
Kavanaugh: He didn't do it
MBS: He didn't do it

Central Park Five, exonerated by DNA evidence and a confession: They definitely did it and deserve to be executed

— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) October 15, 2018

Today Trump appeared impressed by the Saudi King's "strong" denial of any knowledge of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi. As @paulwaldman1 notes, this is a pattern with Trump: https://t.co/oQmb110i67

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) October 15, 2018

Trump's line about the strength of the Saudi king's denial is very reminiscent of how he would repeat Putin's claims about Russia's election interference https://t.co/nWsHvpLy34

— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) October 15, 2018

Donald Trump's HUGE 'denial' double standardhttps://t.co/f6QMwJ2MRK pic.twitter.com/EmI3bUH5gy

— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) October 15, 2018

King Salman denies it.

Vladimir Putin denies it.

Roy Moore denies it.

Brett Kavanaugh denies it.

In the President’s world, the truth doesn’t matter. Admission is weakness. Denial is everything. The more vehement the better. But don’t ask Trump.

He denies it. https://t.co/bBjYduvggI

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) October 15, 2018

President Trump touts Saudi King's denial in journalist's disappearance https://t.co/IQwqycomhr pic.twitter.com/jRj2uMWiRi

— CNN (@CNN) October 15, 2018

Mnuchin trip comes as Trump wants to move forward with Saudi arms deal, opposed by members of both parties, and as he floated the Saudi denial – despite intel that led senators to conclude Saudi was behind apparent murder https://t.co/PNngUBPCsN

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 15, 2018

President Trump said that Saudi Arabia could face "severe punishment" if it's confirmed that missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul https://t.co/tmeq77avAU

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 13, 2018

Bolton hedges on facts of #Khashoggi disappearance, Trump says will continue arms sales & Mnuchin still attending Saudi conference as others pull out. Are we seeing the outlines of Trump admin response?

— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) October 12, 2018

This could be investigated starting in January. https://t.co/Bt5ld7sHQa

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) October 13, 2018

President Trump has long been an advocate of better relations with Saudi Arabia, citing his past business dealings with the nation. Watch: pic.twitter.com/N429D9LcPx

— Hardball (@hardball) October 12, 2018

Bloomberg has joined CNN, CNBC and the Financial Times in withdrawing as media sponsors for Saudi Arabia's "Davos in the Desert." As of now, Fox Business is the only American media sponsor that remains on the list. https://t.co/ALdOijIVvs

— Zach Basu (@zacharybasu) October 12, 2018

It’s not really $110 billion. —> https://t.co/VMgLCVgIK8 https://t.co/PBR0UydbLY

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) October 13, 2018

Donald Trump's ties to Saudi Arabia go back to the 1990's, and it's a relationship rife with big-ticket purchases, including yachts and hotels. But are these past business deals impacting the President's politics? @CristinaAlesci crunches the numbers. https://t.co/Zs6jvIpdW2 pic.twitter.com/sNRP36lVHx

— OutFrontCNN (@OutFrontCNN) October 13, 2018

We have a president whose response to Saudi torture and murder of a journalist is: I don’t like it, but they give us a lot of money! Meaning mostly: They give ME a lot of money. And just think of the luxury hotels I can build in Riyadh after 2028! Or sooner if Mueller catches me.

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) October 12, 2018

WaPo reported: “Before Khashoggi’s disappearance, U.S. intelligence intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to capture him, according to a person familiar with the information.”

I asked ODNI: Why wouldn’t the US warn him?

ODNI: No comment.

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 12, 2018

Rachel Maddow explains why Trump’s business ties to Saudi Arabia leave him compromised https://t.co/tJgEUgv4qp

— Salon (@Salon) October 13, 2018

The “order” doesn’t really exist. Just a PR stunt. https://t.co/VMgLCVgIK8 https://t.co/CdAidOZLlN

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) October 13, 2018

This answer regarding the sales is misleading. The Saudis are invested in US equipment. It would taken them decades to switch to Russian or Chinese equipment. That's why the US has leverage over the Saudis, not the other way around. https://t.co/JbpyPobuup

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) October 13, 2018

"If the Saudis are proven guilty of this heinous crime, it should change everything about the United States’s longstanding relationship with Saudi Arabia. Regrettably, it probably won’t." @aarondavidmiller2 and Richard Sokolsky explain: https://t.co/CBr0NbipzW

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) October 13, 2018

Donald Trump has no interest in demanding accountability from Saudi Arabia regarding Jamal Khashoggi. He has demonstrated no interest in holding Saudi accountable for anything.

— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) October 13, 2018

New: Canadians' opinion of the United States has fallen to another record low, according to major Pew poll (obviously conducted before the trade deal was reached): just 39% have a favourable opinion of the U.S., down from last year's record low of 43%. https://t.co/8go6P4emtd

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 1, 2018

Canadians’ 25 per cent confidence in Trump was exceeded by their confidence in Angela Merkel (68 per cent), Emmanuel Macron (64 per cent), and even Xi Jinping (42 per cent). Vladimir Putin was tied with Trump at 25 per cent.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 1, 2018

Most interesting: in some countries, like Japan, confidence in the president has plummeted under Trump, but opinion about the U.S. as a whole has been stable. Not so in Canada – Canadians' overall perception of the U.S. has fallen off a cliff too. pic.twitter.com/Xrzb7Ue4KP

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 1, 2018

Sixty-five per cent of Canadians had a favourable view of the U.S. in 2016, the end of the Obama era. The 26-point decline between 2016 and 2018 is the fourth-largest of the 25 countries Pew surveyed in this year's global report. Mexico was first at 34 points.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 1, 2018

"People won’t forget that," said Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. "I think that’s now deep in our psyche — the way we were treated by this president."https://t.co/r0Caifu7Kh

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 3, 2018