Defying Congress, Trump sets big arms sales to Saudis, UAE

By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, saying there is a national emergency because of tensions with Iran, is clearing the sale of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia and other countries, U.S. senators said on Friday, despite strong resistance to the plan from both Republicans and Democrats.

The administration has informed congressional committees that it will go ahead with 22 arms deals worth some $8 billion, congressional aides said, sweeping aside a long-standing precedent for congressional review of such sales.

Some lawmakers and congressional aides had warned earlier this week that Trump, frustrated with Congress holding up weapons sales like a major deal to sell Raytheon Co precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, was considering using a loophole in arms control law to go ahead with the sale by declaring a national emergency.

More from World

Why do you see what I see? Now machine model can tell the colour the brain hints at 7.4 magnitude earthquake rocks Russia's east coast, prompts tsunami alerts

“I am disappointed, but not surprised, that the Trump Administration has failed once again to prioritize our long-term national security interests or stand up for human rights, and instead is granting favours to authoritarian countries like Saudi Arabia,” Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement.

Menendez is one of the members of Congress who reviews such sales because he is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Another, the Republican Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Senator Jim Risch, said he had received formal notification of the administration’s intent to move forward with “a number of arms sales.”

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Oli resigns: Who Nepal Gen Z protesters will accept as next PM, Deuba, Prachanda or Koirala?

In a statement, Risch said, “I am reviewing and analysing the legal justification for this action and the associated implications.”

The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by James Dalgleish)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.