The U.S. President urged reporters not to “embarrass” Mohammed bin Salman with questions about the 2018 murder, as the Crown Prince promised to increase investments in the U.S. to $1 trillion.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday against CIA accusations identifying him as responsible for the brutal 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
“He didn’t know anything about it and we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest with these questions,” Trump responded to the press at the start of a meeting in the Oval Office with the Crown Prince.
“You mention someone who was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman you are talking about; whether you liked him or not, these things happen,” added Trump regarding Khashoggi, who was dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
During the meeting, the Saudi Crown Prince announced his intention to expand the oil-rich nation’s investments on U.S. soil to $1 trillion. “We are going to increase those $600 billion to almost $1 trillion for investment,” he said.
Bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, described the Khashoggi murder as a “huge mistake,” while stating the crime was investigated properly and promising that such an event would not happen again.
“It is painful, it is a huge mistake, and we are doing everything possible so it doesn’t happen again,” he declared.
Minutes earlier, Trump assured that he and Bin Salman are very proud of each other for the work they do regarding human rights.
“We have a very respected man in the Oval Office today, a friend of mine for a long time, a very good friend of mine. We are very proud of each other when it comes to human rights and everything else,” Trump said. “We have been very good friends for a long time. We have always been on the same side on every issue.”
Numerous human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, have reported that the situation in Saudi Arabia has deteriorated in recent times, citing an increase in executions and the repression of freedom of expression.
Bin Salman was received at the White House by Trump with the highest honors reserved for state visits, seven years after the Khashoggi assassination.
The CIA determined that Bin Salman approved the murder given his total control over the kingdom’s security apparatus, but the prince has denied his involvement from the beginning. Following the crime, Trump, during his first term, downplayed Saudi Arabia’s responsibility, prioritizing the strategic alliance with Riyadh. His successor, Joe Biden, initially promised to treat Bin Salman as a “pariah,” though he later shifted his stance and met with the prince in Saudi Arabia in 2023.
The Crown Prince also addressed the potential for Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham Accords, the U.S.-brokered initiative to normalize relations between Israel and Arab countries, but conditioned it on a clear path to a Palestinian state.
“It is something positive and we want to be part of the initiative, but we also want to ensure that the clear path toward the two-state solution is not obscured,” he noted.
The American leader affirmed that the two had held several conversations and that the discussion on these agreements was “very good.”
“I think he doesn’t want to use the word ‘commitment,’ but we have had a very good conversation about the Abraham Accords. We have talked about one state, two states. You know, we have talked about many things,” Trump pointed out.
“We want peace for the Israelis. We want peace for the Palestinians. We want them to coexist peacefully in the region and we will do everything possible to reach the defense agreement,” added Bin Salman.
Pushing for Saudi Arabia’s accession to the accords, promoted by Trump during his first term, is one of the American president’s priorities for this meeting. The incorporation would signify a key restructuring of alliances in the region, given Riyadh’s importance.
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