Trump created ‘phony’ emergency to bypass Congress to approve arms sales to Saudi Arabia?

US President Donald Trump has been accused of creating a “phony” emergency to bypass Congress to approve an $8 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. The White House said it was making an emergency provision within the country’s arms control law to enable the billions of dollars of arms sales to the Saudi kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, the US’s strongest allies in the Persian Gulf. The recourse helps the president spare congressional review for the exports. The Trump administration had cited “alleged threats from Iran” to justify resorting to the provision.R. Clarke Cooper, the State Department’s assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, appeared before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he was grilled over the $8 billion “’emergency” arms sale to Saudis. Democratic members of the House committee said the president’s action violated the law because there was no actual emergency. They also said Trump’s action shows that the United States is tolerating worst human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia in its war on Yemen.