The Trump administration scrambled this week to soften the impact of bipartisan legislation that would sanction Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
The White House is the last defense against both sanctions and even more friction in bilateral relations with both countries. Long considered pillars of US national security policy in the region, the Congressional consensus on Turkey and the kingdom has frayed as a result of the war in Yemen, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the Turkish attack on the United States' Kurdish partners in Syria, and Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense systems.