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Trump Undercuts His Advisers Again With Saudi Tweets

  • Tuesday tweet backed arrests of princes and ex-officials
  • State Department hadn’t yet finished review of the incident
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Saudi Purge Brings Crown Prince Closer to Power

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President Donald Trump again showed how quickly his tweets can outrun U.S. foreign policy planning, after he backed Saudi Arabia’s king and crown prince over the arrests of dozens of officials before the State Department had completed its review of the moves.

While Trump had talked with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about Saudi Arabia as they toured Tokyo together Nov. 5 and 6, there was no formal consultation before he tweeted early Tuesday that King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman “know exactly what they are doing.”