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President Trump recently said that he saved Mohamed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, from Congress after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (a Saudi author, dissident, and reporter) by Saudi Arabian security forces. How could the United States have jurisdiction over the Crown Prince if Saudi Arabia is a sovereign state?
Was he referring to sanctions? Arrests? Something else?
Trump is likely pointing to his administration's refusal to provide Congress with details of Khashoggi's murder, or to accuse or sanction Mohamed bin Salman directly, despite imposing sanctions on numerous other Saudi officials. See this BBC article from back in February.
But honestly, Trump says a lot of things, often without any clear reason, context, perspective, or basis in fact. I find it confusing that he would raise the specter of Khashoggi's murder during an election season, unless it's part of his general pro-authoritarian message: pointing to the fact that he protected MbS because 'strong' leaders like MbS and himself have an intrinsic right to 'take care of' dissidents, opponents, and troublemakers.
