Trump and Ivanka ‘Exchange Pleasantries’ with Saudi Crown Prince as Twitter Expresses Outrage

Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump are drawing criticism for their warm interaction with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman while attending the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina.

The moment comes despite a report that the CIA has concluded the leader was responsible for ordering the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi last month.

Although Trump, at first, walked past Mohammed after arriving late to a leaders’ meeting on Friday, the president was later seen talking with the leader on the sidelines, along with his daughter and United States Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, according to The Washington Post.

The White House told pool reporters that Trump “exchanged pleasantries” with the crown prince during the leaders’ session on Friday, “as he did with nearly every leader in attendance,” according to The Hill.

Without elaborating much on their interaction, Trump went on to tell reporters that the pair “had no discussion,” according to the Post. “We might have, but we had none,” he said.

At of the same meeting, Vladimir Putin was also seen giving Mohammed a high-five.

Many Twitter users expressed outrage over the warmth with which Trump greeted the world leader.

While some referenced Mohammed’s alleged involvement with the murder of Khashoggi, others slammed Trump for what they described as him “sucking up” to the leader in order to keep oil prices low.

Amending a headline about the interaction, one Twitter user wrote, “Three dummies and a cold blooded murderer exchange pleasantries.”

“Debtor meets creditor!” added another outraged social media user.

Still others questioned whether “pleasantries” was really the most diplomatic word to describe the interaction.

Wrote one social media user, ” ‘pleasantries’ being an odd choice of words when the subtext involves murder and dismemberment.”

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Trump has previously come out in support of Mohammed, despite the backlash surrounding the leader.

On Tuesday, the president said taht the U.S. would continue to enjoy a “steadfast” alliance with Saudi Arabia, according to The Hill, telling reporters that “if we abandon Saudi Arabia, it would be a terrible mistake.”

“Right now, we have oil prices in great shape. I’m not going to destroy the world economy and I’m not going to destroy the economy for our country by being foolish with Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Trump also dismissed reports that the CIA had found Mohammed guilty of ordering the journalist’s murder.

However, things were not as warm between Putin and Trump, who cancelled a planned meeting with the Russian leader on Thursday, with less than 24 hours notice, citing Russian aggression toward Ukraine.

Trump was also seen walking by Putin as he made his way into the meeting, according to the Post.

The decision to cancel the meeting was made shortly after Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress regarding a real estate deal Trump was pursuing with Russia during the presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly maintained his innocence, denying any collusion with Russia occurred.

Defending himself on Twitter, Trump wrote on Friday, “Oh, I get it! I am a very good developer, happily living my life, when I see our Country going in the wrong direction (to put it mildly). Against all odds, I decide to run for President & continue to run my business-very legal & very cool, talked about it on the campaign trail.”

Continuing, he added that although he “lightly looked at doing a building somewhere in Russia” he “put up zero money, [made] zero guarantees” and ultimately did not move forward with the real estate deal.

Utilizing a phrase that he has often used to describe Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation, Trump concluded his tweet by calling the situation a “Witch Hunt!“