Trump warns against canceling Saudi arms deals

President Trump today warned Congress against canceling proposed arms deals with Saudi Arabia, despite the highly publicized murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying Russia and China would benefit from the resulting sales vacuum.

"If we foolishly cancel these contracts, Russia and China would be the enormous beneficiaries -- and very happy to acquire all of this newfound business," Trump said in a statement. "It would be a wonderful gift to them directly from the United States!"

Trump said the deals he "heavily negotiated" with the Saudi last year amounted to $110 billion in military equipment from "Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and many other great U.S. defense contractors."

Analysts, however, say that $110 billion in sales is an aspirational goal, while the Center for International Policy has released a report pegging the actual value of arms sales to Saudi Arabia since Trump took office at $14.5 billion.

Many lawmakers have voiced their intentions to block and further investigate U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Trump said he knows members of Congress "who, for political or other reasons, would like to go in a different direction -- and they are free to do so."

Though Trump acknowledged Khashoggi's "terrible" murder, he said "we may never know all of the facts," including whether Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was involved.

"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 said.

Meanwhile, multiple news outlets have reported that the CIA has concluded the crown prince ordered Khashoggi's assassination.

"In any case," Trump said, "our relationship is with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They have been a great ally in our very important fight against Iran. The United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia to ensure the interests of our country, Israel and all other partners in the region. It is our paramount goal to fully eliminate the threat of terrorism throughout the world!"

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has called for cutting off all arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

"I don't think we can sweep this under the rug," he told CBS' Face the Nation on Nov. 18.

Germany, meanwhile, has announced it will halt all arms sales to Riyadh.