WASHINGTON – The Trump administration revoked the visas Tuesday of some Saudi officials implicated in the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi in its first punitive measure against its longtime Middle East partner, as President Donald Trump denounced the kingdom for one of the “worst coverups in the history of coverups.”

Shortly after Trump made the comment, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the administration was moving to revoke the visas of Saudi government and intelligence agents suspected of involvement in the death of Khashoggi. Visa records are confidential and Pompeo was not more specific about who the revocations would affect, but the State Department later said 21 “Saudi suspects” would have visas revoked or would be declared ineligible to enter the U.S.

“These penalties will not be the last word on this matter,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. “As we continue to develop our understanding of the individuals that were responsible for this, not only those who executed it but those who were connected to it, the world should know that we intend to hold those individuals accountable when we develop this fact set,” Pompeo told reporters. However, Pompeo said that the US will continue maintaining a close association with Saudi Arabia, although he emphasized that he and Trump were “not happy with this situation.”

“We’re making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this ruthless action to silence Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence,” he said, adding – however – that Washington will continue pursuing its strategic objectives with Saudi Arabia. The president did not say if he shared the conclusion of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who on Tuesday called Khashoggi’s killing “premeditated.”

Khashoggi, a journalist who had gone into self-exile in Washington and recently had been a critic of Riyadh, disappeared on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up some documents for his planned wedding. Donald Trump has described the killing of a Saudi journalist as a botched operation and a “bad original concept” as the US took its first, careful steps towards punishing the Saudis by moving to revoke the visas of the suspects. It was carried out poorly, and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups," said Trump in the Oval Office in response to a reporter's question about how the killing could have occurred, Efe reporte. Somebody really messed up and they had the worst coverup ever.”

Saudi Arabia has claimed Khashoggi, who lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. and wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, died accidentally in a brawl at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announces that the United States will revoke visas of Saudi Arabia officials behind the killing of Khashoggi.