President Donald Trump on Tuesday defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman against U.S. intelligence findings that the kingdom’s de facto ruler approved the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting the prince “knew nothing about it.”
Speaking alongside bin Salman in the Oval Office, Trump dismissed a reporter’s question on the murder as an attempt “to embarrass our guest” and described Khashoggi as someone “a lot of people didn’t like.”
“Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said, Associated Press reported. “But he knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that.”
The crown prince called the killing “painful” and “a huge mistake,” adding that Saudi Arabia had “improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that,” Reuters reported.
Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, responded on X: “There is no justification to murder my husband.”
U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a 2021 declassified report that bin Salman approved the operation that killed Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S. resident, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The exchange came during bin Salman’s first White House visit in more than seven years, marked by a South Lawn arrival ceremony featuring a military honor guard, cannon salute, and fighter-jet flyover.
Trump praised the prince’s record, saying “what he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else,” and announced agreements that include the sale of F-35 stealth fighters to Riyadh — the first such transfer to the kingdom — and a new defense pact.
Bin Salman pledged to raise Saudi investment in the United States to $1 trillion, up from an earlier $600 billion commitment, though he offered no timeline.
On normalizing ties with Israel, the crown prince reiterated Saudi support for joining the Abraham Accords but only with “a clear path” to Palestinian statehood.
“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we want also to be sure that we secure a clear path of a two-state solution,” he said, per AP.
Trump pushed back on conflict-of-interest questions over his family’s business ties to the kingdom, saying, “I have nothing to do with the family business.”
The visit, which includes a black-tie White House dinner and a major investment conference on Wednesday, signals a full reset of U.S.-Saudi relations after years of strain over the 2018 killing.