Donald Trump has made the astonishing claim that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing about the gruesome killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, despite U.S. intelligence officials holding the leader responsible.
Seven years after Khashoggi’s murder cast the crown prince as an international pariah, Trump rolled out the red carpet for the Saudi royal, known as MBS, welcoming him with a military flyover, an honor guard, and a tour of the newly revamped White House.
But as the pair addressed journalists in the Oval Office, ABC News reporter Mary Bruce asked the Saudi leader about Khashoggi, who was murdered and dismembered with a bone saw by Saudi agents in 2018.
Trump, however, fired back at the question, saying Salman had done “a phenomenal job” in his country and “knew nothing about it.”
“You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial,” Trump said of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who had been critical of the Saudi government.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it and we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”
Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul during Trump’s first administration.
A few years later, U.S. intelligence officials under the Biden administration released a report that found the crown prince had ordered the killing. However, the White House declined to take direct action against him.
But Salman has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, and after Trump intervened to defend him in the Oval Office on Tuesday, he asked if he could also provide a response.
“It’s really painful to hear that anyone is losing his life for no real purpose,” he said.
“We did all the right steps in terms of investigation, etc. in Saudi Arabia and we’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best so that it will never happen again.”
Tuesday’s meeting was the first time since the assassination that the crown prince has been in the White House, let alone granted all the pomp and ceremony of a state visit.
“We’ve been really good friends for a long period of time, we’ve always been on the same side of every issue,” Trump said.
He also praised Salman’s human rights record, which has been criticized over the kingdom’s death penalty, its crackdowns on dissent, and migrant worker abuse.
The meeting also paved the way for a series of economic and defense agreements.
Among them was the proposed sale of 48 F-35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, marking the first time the U.S. has provided its most sophisticated aircraft to a Middle Eastern country other than Israel.
Trump also hopes the kingdom will soon join the Abraham Accords, the US-led agreement that led a number of regional countries to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel.
However, the prince said on Tuesday that his position remained unchanged.
“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords but we also want to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” he said.
“We want peace with the Israelis, we want peace with the Palestinians, we want them to coexist peacefully in the region.”
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