VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,153 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

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WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump defied the nation’s intelli-gence agencies and a growingbody of evidence on Tuesday todeclare his unswerving loyalty toSaudi Arabia, asserting thatCrown Prince Mohammed binSalman’s culpability for the killingof Jamal Khashoggi might neverbe known.

In a remarkable statement thatappeared calculated to end the de-bate over the American responseto the killing of Mr. Khashoggi, thepresident said, “It could very wellbe that the crown prince hadknowledge of this tragic event —maybe he did and maybe he did-n’t!”

“We may never know all of thefacts surrounding the murder ofMr. Jamal Khashoggi,” Mr. Trumpadded. “In any case, our relation-ship is with the Kingdom of SaudiArabia.”

His statement, which aides saidMr. Trump dictated himself andreflected his deeply held views,came only days after the C.I.A.concluded that the crown prince, aclose ally of the White House, hadauthorized the killing of Mr.Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist andcolumnist for The WashingtonPost.

In 633 words, punctuated byeight exclamation points and writ-ten in an impolitic style thatsounded like Mr. Trump’s off-the-cuff observations, the statementwas a stark distillation of theTrump worldview: remorselesslytransactional, heedless of thefacts, determined to put America’sinterests first, and founded on atheory of moral equivalence.

In a world of malefactors, Mr.Trump argued, Iran’s crimes ex-ceeded anything Saudi Arabia haddone. His words seemed certain toalienate Turkey, a NATO ally thathas raised the pressure on SaudiArabia to offer a full accounting ofwhat happened to Mr. Khashoggiinside the Saudi Consulate in Is-tanbul.

They also drew outrage frommembers of Congress and humanrights activists, for whom thegrisly killing has become a test ofAmerica’s willingness to overlookthe crimes of a strategically valu-able ally. Even Mr. Trump’sstaunchest allies on Capitol Hill

Trump Stands With SaudisOver Murder of Khashoggi

View Ignores C.I.A.and Stirs Outrage

on Capitol Hill

By MARK LANDLER

Continued on Page A7

MOHAMMAD ISMAIL/REUTERS

The bombing of a crowded religious gathering in the Afghan capital injured or killed more than 100 people, officials said. Page A9.Blast in Kabul Kills Dozens

CHICO, Calif. — There’s a des-perate plea on the message boardfor Sheila Santos, who went miss-ing after wildfires ripped throughher home: “Call your kids.”

There are hundreds of othernames posted outside the shelterfor fire evacuees at a church inChico, the nearest city to the frontlines of the still-roaring fire.There’s Rosemary Poushard,William Goulridge and VerniceRegan, all of whom remain on theofficial missing list.

“I’ve seen grown men walk up

to that board and just start to cry,”said Tena Quackenbush, 51, a RedCross volunteer from Black RiverFalls, Wis. “There’s somethingabout seeing all the names and theway these people might have beenconsumed by fire that just bringsthe tragedy home.”

The Camp Fire, 75 percent con-tained as of Tuesday morning, hasburned through more than152,000 acres, killing at least 81people to date. But the true scaleof the human catastrophe will beclear only months down the line,once search crews finish turningthrough thousands of burned

Continued on Page A15

Aching Over Name After NameAs Crews Scour California Ash

This article is by Simon Rome-ro, Jose A. Del Real and ThomasFuller.

The warning came just as mil-lions of Americans were prepar-ing for the biggest food holiday ofthe year. People should not buy oreat romaine lettuce; restaurantsshould stop serving it; anyonewho has it on hand should throw itout and clean the refrigerator im-

mediately.The stern and sweeping advi-

sory, issued by the Centers forDisease Control and Preventionon Tuesday afternoon, two daysbefore Thanksgiving, caughtmany people off guard. But theagency said it was acting out of anabundance of caution after 32 peo-ple in 11 states fell sick with a viru-lent form of E. coli, a bacteria

blamed for a number of food-borne outbreaks in recent years.

“If you do not know if the lettuceis romaine or whether a salad mixcontains romaine, do not eat it andthrow it away,” the C.D.C. state-ment said. “Wash and sanitizedrawers or shelves in refrigera-tors where romaine was stored.”

Officials said such measures

Throw Away All Romaine Lettuce, C.D.C. Warns

By ANDREW JACOBS

Continued on Page A14

Unemployment is near lows notseen in half a century. The Ameri-can economy is set for its bestyear since 2005. Large corpora-tions are producing giant profits.Even wages are starting to rise.

And the stock markets are amess.

The losses extended on Tues-day, as the S&P 500-stock indexturned negative for the year, stok-ing fears that one of the longestbull markets in history could be atrisk.

The stock market’s strugglesmay seem incongruous againstthe backdrop of strong economicgrowth. But stocks often act as anearly warning system, picking upsubtle changes before they ap-pear in the economic data.

In recent weeks, retail stocks

have been hit over concerns of ris-ing costs, a sign that PresidentTrump’s global trade battles maybe starting to take a toll and thathigher wages are cutting intoprofits. Commodities and the com-panies that depend on them havebeen pummeled by the prospect ofweaker demand should the globaleconomy slow. Five tech giants —Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, Ap-ple and Netflix — have shed morethan $800 billion in market valuesince the end of August, the falloutfrom slowing growth and regula-tory scrutiny.

The Economy Is Purring, but Stocks Are GrowlingBy MATT PHILLIPS

The New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, when a dive sent the S&P 500 into the red for the year.HILARY SWIFT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A14

Plunging Markets May Be an Early Warning

of Weaker Growth

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump told the White House coun-sel in the spring that he wanted toorder the Justice Department toprosecute two of his political ad-versaries: his 2016 challenger,Hillary Clinton, and the formerF.B.I. director James B. Comey, ac-cording to two people familiarwith the conversation.

The lawyer, Donald F. McGahnII, rebuffed the president, sayingthat he had no authority to order aprosecution. Mr. McGahn saidthat while he could request an in-vestigation, that too could promptaccusations of abuse of power. Tounderscore his point, Mr. McGahnhad White House lawyers write amemo for Mr. Trump warning thatif he asked law enforcement to in-vestigate his rivals, he could face arange of consequences, includingpossible impeachment.

The encounter was one of themost blatant examples yet of howMr. Trump views the typically in-dependent Justice Department asa tool to be wielded against his po-litical enemies. It took on addi-tional significance in recent weekswhen Mr. McGahn left the WhiteHouse and Mr. Trump appointed arelatively inexperienced politicalloyalist, Matthew G. Whitaker, asthe acting attorney general.

It is unclear whether Mr. Trumpread Mr. McGahn’s memo orwhether he pursued the prosecu-tions further. But the presidenthas continued to privately discussthe matter, including the possibleappointment of a second specialcounsel to investigate both Mrs.

Trump SoughtTo Have FoesFace ChargesBy MICHAEL S. SCHMIDTand MAGGIE HABERMAN

Continued on Page A12

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump has long viewed foreignpolicy as a series of businessdeals, stripped of values andidealism. But his 633-word state-ment on Tuesday about the bru-tal killing of the Saudi dissidentJamal Khashoggi showed theextent to which he believes thatraw, mercantilist calculationsshould guide the United States’decisions about the Middle Eastand the wider world.

Mr. Trump made clear that hesees alliances as transactional,based on which foreign partnersbuy the most weapons. Americanjobs outweigh American values.And all countries act abhorrently,so an American president shouldnever hold friends to differentstandards than enemies.

Tuesday’s message couldbecome something of a blueprintfor foreign leaders — a guide tohow they might increase theirstanding in the eyes of the Amer-ican president as well as how farthey can go in crushing domesticcritics without raising Americanire.

It was also a revealing medita-tion on the role that Mr. Trumpbelieves facts should play inpolitical decision-making. TheC.I.A. concluded that CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salman ofSaudi Arabia had ordered Mr.Khashoggi’s killing, Americanofficials said last week. But onTuesday, the president dismissednot only that assessment but alsothe very process of seeking thetruth, implying that it did notreally matter anyway. (“Maybe

NEWS ANALYSIS

A Cynical Blueprintfor Autocrats

By MARK MAZZETTIand BEN HUBBARD

Funeral prayers were held lastweek for Jamal Khashoggi.

EMRAH GUREL/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Continued on Page A7

The prospect of a Russian presidencyignited lobbying by Americans andEuropeans. Russia has been accused ofmanipulating the agency’s arrest war-rants to harass its enemies. PAGE A5

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Russia Is Poised to Lead Interpol

The authorities in New Jersey wereinvestigating a suspicious fire at a techconsultant’s home, and whether a blazemiles away was related to it. PAGE A16

4 Dead in Mansion Inferno

Prosecutors said they planned to retrythe case of Chanel Lewis, who wasaccused of murdering Karina Vetrano in2016 in a Queens park, after the jurysaid it was deadlocked. PAGE A17

NEW YORK A16-19

Mistrial in Jogger’s Killing

“Creed II,” above, and “Ralph Breaksthe Internet” are among films hittingtheaters for the holidays. Our criticshave picked out some winners. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-9

Knockout Movies

Food magazines see November’s issueas their Super Bowl, but what’s the bestcall for the cover photo? PAGE D1

FOOD D1-12

A Big Turkey Might Work

Thomas L. Friedman PAGE A21EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21

Nancy Pelosi cut a deal with the solelawmaker to openly flirt with a chal-lenge to her House leadership, MarciaFudge, who then endorsed her. PAGE A13

NATIONAL A10-15

No Challenger for Pelosi

Before his arrest in an inquiry over hissalary, Carlos Ghosn was celebrated inthe business community and popularculture. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-7

Nissan Chief’s Fall From Grace

Chess is omnipresent in Norway, thehome to Magnus Carlsen, whosedefense of the world championship isriveting the country. PAGE B8

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B8-11

How Chess Conquered Norway

SCRUTINY Matthew G. Whitaker’searnings from undisclosed donorsraise questions. PAGE A13

ASKED, ANSWERED The presidenthas turned in his responses to thespecial counsel. PAGE A12

Late EditionToday, sunshine and clouds, late-dayflurries, breezy, high 44. Tonight,partly cloudy, breezy, colder, low 21.Tomorrow, windy, very cold, high 27.Weather map appears on Page C10.

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