Biden calls Saudi king ahead of expected release of Khashoggi report

A person holds a picture of Jamal Khashoggi.
(Image credit: Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)

President Biden spoke with Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Thursday, their first phone call since Biden's inauguration.

The conversation took place before the expected release of a U.S. intelligence report on the killing of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi. In 2018, Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, with his body dismembered by Saudi agents. It was reported soon after that the CIA concluded with high confidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto leader, ordered the murder. The Saudi government and former President Donald Trump pinned the blame on "rogue" agents.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.