By Patricia Zengerle and Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON -Lawmakers are set to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday on the second day of a visit to the United States that has aimed to tout stronger-than-ever economic and security ties with Washington while brushing off scrutiny of his human rights record.
President Donald Trump gave bin Salman a lavish welcome at the White House on Tuesday and defended him over the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents, which U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded the crown prince approved.
A handful of Republican members of Congress, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast attended a black-tie dinner at the White House for bin Salman on Tuesday, according to a White House official.
Bin Salman was considered an outcast by Washington in the aftermath of the Khashoggi killing, but his rehabilitation was rubber-stamped this week.
In one example of this, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who as a U.S. senator in 2019 denounced the crown prince as a "gangster", sat a few steps away during Tuesday's Oval Office meeting. Trump repeatedly said it was "an honor" to be friends with the Saudi leader.
This was in sharp contrast to Washington's view of the Saudi leader during Trump's first term, as members of Congress became angry with Riyadh's role in the civil war in Yemen and its human rights record, fueled by Khashoggi's murder at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
"He is reckless, he's ruthless, he has a penchant for escalation, for taking high risks, confrontational in his foreign policy approach and I think increasingly willing to test the limits of what he can get away with the United States," Rubio said at the time. There were multiple and persistent calls from members of Congress for accountability.
The crown prince has denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom's de facto ruler.
In 2019, Congress passed a resolution demanding an end to military support for the Saudi-led coalition waging war in Yemen, although there were too few votes to overturn Trump's veto.
SUBDUED RECEPTION
Although memories of that time may have faded, bin Salman's reception on Capitol Hill on Wednesday was likely to be far more subdued than the welcomes given to other world leaders.
The crown prince arrived at the Capitol building on Wednesday morning where congressional aides said Johnson was holding a reception for him attended by some Democratic as well as Republican members of Congress.
The meeting was not announced and the speaker's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Neither Johnson nor Republican Senate Leader John Thune planned the type of press opportunity, with photos and brief remarks, that is often held when world leaders visit the Capitol.
A handful of lawmakers criticized bin Salman this time around.
Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, where Khashoggi lived, blasted Trump after the Oval Office meeting with bin Salman, known as MBS.
"Instead of rolling out the red carpet for MBS and leveraging the presidency for private hotel deals, Trump should be demanding accountability on behalf of Khashoggi’s Virginia-based family and pressing Saudi Arabia to advance U.S. security interests. Unfortunately, this is just the most recent example of Trump placing his personal financial interests above the interest of the American people," he said in a statement.
Bin Salman, who agreed in the meeting to increase the kingdom's planned investments in the U.S. to $1 trillion from $600 billion, is also attending an investment conference in Washington on Wednesday that will include CEOs from major U.S. companies. The two sides also announced new agreements on arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation and artificial intelligence after the meeting.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel, said she was concerned about some of the initiatives announced during bin Salman's visit, and called on Trump and his administration to brief the committee on every commitment.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Simon LewisAdditional reporting by Nandita BoseEditing by Humeyra Pamuk, Lincoln Feast and Frances Kerry)
