Press TV - Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has become a �liability� to the United States but Washington is not in a position to take action against him, an American analyst says.

Keith Preston, director of the Attackthesystem.org, said Washington was feeling embarrassed by bin Salman�s actions but couldn�t do anything about it.

�The American government is currently in a very difficult situation because the Saudi Arabian government is a staunch ally of the United States and it is obvious that the Trump administration wants to maintain that relationship,� Preston told Press TV.

US President Donald Trump has so far resisted growing calls from both sides of the isle in Congress for a strong response to the Saudi regime�s murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi�s murder, arguing that doing so would endanger deep financial and political ties between the two sides and push Riyadh towards Russia.

Trump�s reluctance to go after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite growing evidence pointing to his role, became clearer after he undermined a CIA assessment that the prince was indeed aware of the murder.

The biggest reason is the risk that losing Saudi Arabia�s services would pose to Israel, Trump has admitted.

�Israel would be in big trouble without Saudi Arabia,� Trump said after a Thanksgiving Day telephone call with military personnel from his Mar-a-Lago resort home in Florida.

�If you look at Israel, Israel would be in big trouble without Saudi Arabia,� he added. �So what does that mean, Israel is going to leave? You want Israel to leave? We have a very strong ally in Saudi Arabia.�

Preston said the Tel Aviv regime was in fact part of a �triangular relationship� between Washington and Riyadh.

The media factor

The American media viewed Khashoggi�s murder as an attack by Riyadh against their interests and that is why two months later, the topic keeps getting major coverage, Preston argued.

�The media companies are also some of the most powerful interests in the United States,� he said, adding the media have grown into an important part of �the American elite.�

Preston said the media�s retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia have paved the way for a wider coverage of the Saudi-led war on Yemen for the first time.

Concluding his remarks, Preston said the prince�s policies had even overshadowed the ongoing Group 20 summit in Argentina.