Donald Trump says Saudi crown prince ‘knew nothing’ about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

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Donald Trump brushed off questions about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday, defending his “friend” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and touting up to $1 trillion in investments from the kingdom.

Speaking alongside Prince Mohammed in the Oval Office, he criticized the US president after reporters asked him about Khashoggi’s killing by Saudi agents. Interrogation is critical[ed]Trump said that the actual ruler of the kingdom was an episode “that he knew nothing about.”

“A lot of people didn’t like this guy you’re talking about,” Trump added, referring to Khashoggi, a widely respected Saudi journalist.

Prince Mohammed said the killing was a “huge mistake.” “We are doing everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Saudi agents killed Khashoggi, who wrote for publications including The Washington Post, at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 and dismembered his body. The CIA concluded that Prince Mohammed had agreed to the mission to “capture or kill the journalist.” Riyadh blamed this on a rogue operation.

Trump’s comments came on the heels of Washington’s lavish welcome to the crown prince – including a 21-gun salute and a military flyover – ahead of a series of deals the countries are expected to sign, including on security. Prince Mohammed said that Saudi investments in the United States could reach one trillion dollars.

The pledges came on Tuesday after Trump said he would sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and was “working on” licenses to export advanced chips, underscoring the president’s quest for a stronger relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia in his second term.

At a state dinner on Tuesday night, Trump said he was also granting the kingdom the official status of a “major non-NATO ally,” giving it broader and preferable access to American weapons.

Saudi Arabia will join a group of 19 countries including Japan, Israel and Morocco – as well as the island of Taiwan, which is classified as an ally even though it is not a country.

The leaders did not set a time frame for expanding the Saudi investment pledge, which comes at a time when the world’s largest oil exporter faces falling crude oil prices and a widening budget deficit, which has prompted it to slow down some of its giant domestic projects. On Wednesday, Trump will host a US-Saudi business forum.

Prince Mohammed pledged earlier this year to invest $600 billion in the United States over four years.

The visit comes at a sensitive political moment for Trump, who is suffering from low approval ratings, dissatisfaction with his handling of inflation, and pressure to release documents related to the late Jeffrey Epstein, the perpetrator of child sexual abuse crimes.

The president’s domestic opponents have also attacked his conflation of family business interests with US foreign policy. When Trump was asked about these issues in the Oval Office by an ABC News correspondent, he threatened to revoke the American network’s broadcast license.

“Fake news,” he added. “I have nothing to do with the family business.”

Trump, who has openly sought to attract investment from oil-rich Gulf states, chose Saudi Arabia for his first trip abroad this year as president.

For Prince Mohammed, the reciprocal visit to Washington — his first in eight years — aims to cement decades of cooperation between Riyadh and Washington, but also to boost access to American technology, cooperation on Riyadh’s emerging nuclear program, and foreign investment to support his ambitious plans to develop the kingdom and reduce its dependence on oil.

A Trump administration official said the two leaders would announce a “billion-dollar investment in America’s artificial intelligence infrastructure,” cooperate to develop Saudi Arabia’s civil nuclear program, and “deliver” on Prince Mohammed’s previous $600 billion investment pledge. It included a $142 billion defense deal that the White House described as the largest arms sale in history.

Trump and Prince Mohammed also discussed the president’s ongoing efforts to persuade Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords.

The Crown Prince said that Riyadh first wants to see a “clear path” to establishing a Palestinian state.

The Kingdom was moving towards reaching an agreement with the Biden administration to establish official diplomatic relations with Israel, but the process was turned upside down after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 led to the outbreak of an Israeli war in Gaza.

Prince Mohammed has since accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, insisting that the kingdom will agree to normalize relations only if a Palestinian state is created.