SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mitt Romney took issue with President Donald Trump defending his relationship with the Saudi Arabian leader who allegedly ordered the hit on a Washington Post columnist.
Trump said he was "extremely angry and very unhappy" about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi but claimed "nobody has directly pointed a finger" at Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite U.S. intelligence and a United Nations report saying otherwise.
Trump had breakfast with the crown prince in Osaka, Japan, over the weekend, but did not press him on his involvement in Khashoggi's murder.
"The President’s praise for MBS, the man who US intel says ordered or authorized the heinous murder of a WaPo columnist & Saudi dissident, sends the wrong message to the world," Romney tweeted Sunday.
Romney, R-Utah, also repeated his call for sanctions against Saudi Arabia.
"It’s past time for Congress & the administration to impose sanctions for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi," he said.
The CIA concluded that bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last year.
The United Nations last month found there was “credible evidence” to warrant further investigation into allegations that the crown prince was behind the killing.
“No conclusion is made as to guilt,” according to the U.N. report. But "evidence points to the 15-person mission to execute Mr. Khashoggi requiring significant government coordination, resources and finances."
Trump has played down bin Salman's role in Khashoggi’s murder. His administration has been criticized for refusing to limit ties to Saudi Arabia or to openly condemn the crown prince.
Romney skewered Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shortly after last November's election for their comments on Saudi Arabia and the killing of Khashoggi, calling them "inconsistent with an enduring foreign policy, with our national interest, with basic human rights, and with American greatness."
"Sanctions do not necessarily require ending the alliance; they do demand real and painful consequence," Romney posted on Facebook.
Trump last year declared unwavering loyalty to Saudi Arabia and asserted that bin Salman's culpability in the murder might never be known.
Romney also took to Twitter to criticize Trump's response after the president indicated Saudi Arabia would not face severe punishment for Khashoggi's death.
"Our country is defined by human values, by principle above convenience, & by commitment to morality. We must subject the perpetrators of this outrage to withering sanction," Romney tweeted.