Tom Barrack on Tuesday appeared to argue that the U.S. and other western governments have misunderstood the kingdom and should stay out of Saudi Arabia’s internal affairs. | AP Photo/David J. Phillip Foreign Policy Trump ally cleans up comments defending Saudi Arabia despite Khashoggi murder

Tom Barrack, a prominent real estate developer and ally of President Donald Trump, apologized Wednesday after he appeared to defend the kingdom of Saudi Arabia against criticism for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Barrack, who chaired the Trump inaugural committee now under investigation by federal prosecutors for possibly misusing donations, told attendees of the Milken Institute MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi earlier this week that “whatever happened in Saudi Arabia, the atrocities in America are equal, or worse,” according to the UAE newspaper Gulf News.


On Wednesday, Barrack said he was sorry for not being more clear that Khashoggi’s murder “was atrocious and is inexcusable” in trying to make the broader point that there seems to be a disconnect when it comes to Western democracies’ understanding of “the rule of law and monarchies across the Middle East.”

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who often wrote critically of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, was killed last year inside the kingdom’s Turkish consulate. The kingdom initially sought to cover up his disappearance before backtracking and ultimately arresting a number of Saudi officials in connection with the killing.

U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded with high certainty that the crown prince ordered the slaying and the Trump administration’s reluctance to point the finger at bin Salman has been the cause of a rare divide between the president and his allies on Capitol Hill.

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Barrack on Tuesday appeared to argue that the U.S. and other Western governments have misunderstood the kingdom and should stay out of Saudi Arabia’s internal affairs, referencing bin Salman’s efforts to bring Western reforms to the kingdom.

“The atrocities in any ... country are dictated by the rule of law,” he said. “So for us to dictate what we think is the moral code there, when we have a young man and regime that is trying to push themselves into 2030, I think is a mistake.”

In his apology Wednesday, Barrack said that “I feel strongly that the bad acts of a few should not be interpreted as the failure of an entire sovereign kingdom.”

He compared the reaction to Khashoggi’s murder to the World War I-era pact that some say arbitrarily carved the Ottoman Empire into different British and French-held territories.

“The problem that has happened with the Khashoggi incident is the same problem with the West misunderstanding the East that has existed since Sykes-Picot,” Barrack said.

“So, the West is confused, it doesn’t understand the rule of law in the kingdom, it doesn’t understand what succession in the kingdom is, it doesn’t understand how there can be a dilemma with a population that has 60 percent of people under the age of 20,” he added later, blaming the “corrupt hand” of Western democracies for being “the primary instigator in the kingdom.”

Barrack did not back down from those comments on Wednesday.

“I have always believed and continue to believe that the United States is the greatest country in the world, but our history and our policies in the Middle East have been confusing at times,” he said. “I believe that as a nation we do constantly work to lead by example, and I believe that we still do. I apologize for not making it clear at the time that I consider the killing reprehensible.”

