When President Donald Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s crown prince this week over the 2018 killing of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, he did more than just stir renewed accusations from critics of an affinity toward strongmen.

Trump’s remarks, which contradicted U.S. intelligence findings, threw into stark relief just how far his administration has shifted away from the traditional U.S. support for human rights globally.

Nearly all recent U.S. administrations have worked with leaders with poor human rights records in order to advance U.S. interests.

But more than any recent occupant of the White House, Trump has not only praised prominent autocratic rulers, from Saudi Arabia and Hungary to China and El Salvador, but has shown little interest in reining them in, instead taking a mor

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