In his first visit to the White House since the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mohammed bin Salman received a warm welcome from President Donald Trump, who contradicted U.S. intelligence and said the Saudi crown prince “knew nothing” about the killing.
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said Tuesday in response to questions from a journalist about Khashoggi. “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 [the crown prince] knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”
Trump began his remarks by saying that he was proud of the crown prince in “terms of human rights and everything else.”
Crown Prince Mohammed, 40, became an international pariah after the 2018 murder of Khashoggi, a fierce critic of his government. At the time, Trump defended the Saudi government even after the CIA concluded that the crown prince himself ordered the killing.
Trump lashed out at a reporter from ABC News who asked the crown prince about Khashoggi’s death and about criticism from the families of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, many of whom have long pushed for answers on the Saudi government’s potential ties to the attackers.
“ABC, fake news, one of the worst, one of the worst in the business,” he said.
The crown prince dismissed the criticisms against the Saudi government as part of a campaign to drive a wedge between Washington and Riyadh.
“I feel painful about, you know, families of 9/11 in America,” he said. “But you know, we have to focus on reality.”
Crown Prince Mohammed also defended the kingdom’s probe into Khashoggi’s murder, which he said included internal reforms. A Saudi court sentenced five people to death for their involvement in the killing.
“It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia,” he said, promising that “we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”
Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, the journalist’s widow, responded to Trump on X, writing, “There is no justification to murder my husband. While Jamal was a good transparent and brave man many people may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press. The Crown Prince said he was sorry so he should meet me, apologize and compensate me for the murder of my husband.”
The crown prince said in 2019 that he took “full responsibility” for the Khashoggi killing since it happened on his watch but denied having ordered it.
Khashoggi’s death has highlighted the risks journalists face around the world, particularly in areas where there is conflict. A report from the Committee to Protect Journalists released in February said that at least 124 journalists and media workers were killed in 2024, mainly Palestinian journalists killed as a result of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza.
The crown prince’s trip Tuesday will be seen more broadly as a move toward acceptance back into the diplomatic fold.
Trump’s welcome of the crown prince was an elaborate display of pomp and circumstance. After arriving at the White House, the crown prince was greeted by a military flyover of stealth fighter jets, officers on horseback and a tour of the Rose Garden from Trump. Later, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, the president praised the reception that he received when he visited the kingdom this year. “I love the country and people,” he said.
Trump and the crown prince joked about investing $1 trillion — a sum roughly equal to Saudi Arabia’s entire wealth fund — into the United States, up from a $600 billion pledge.
The two leaders are also expected to sign economic and defense agreements, a White House official told NBC News.
Even before the crown prince had set foot in the United States, Trump confirmed at an Oval Office event Monday that he would be willing to sign off on the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, a contentious move that could shift the balance of power in the Middle East, where Israel has been the primary recipient of America’s cutting-edge military technology. Trump repeated the pledge Tuesday and promised a deal.
Trump also designated Saudi Arabia a “Major Non-NATO Ally” on Tuesday, noting that the classification would take the country’s military cooperation with the United States “to even greater heights.”
“You always had a little cloud over your head, and sometimes that cloud was very big. That cloud is not there anymore, and we want to keep it that way,” Trump said before he announced the designation at a dinner honoring Crown Prince Mohammed.
Major Non-NATO Ally status is a designation that “provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation,” according to the State Department. It does not, however, require U.S. security commitments to such countries.
The possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel is a key part of the talks. “I already brought it up,” Trump said when asked about the prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, the 2020 U.S.-brokered agreement that led a number of regional countries to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel. “I don’t want to use the word ‘commitment,’ but we had a good talk,” he said.
Watch: https://x.com/AP/status/1990978838638010371?t=HPPRjNkVQ1pFKAVfiLTtKw&s=19 (NBC News)