Trump says Saudi crown prince knew nothing of journalist murder, rejecting CIA assessment
Donald Trump said the murdered journalist and US citizen Jamal Khashoggi was ‘extremely controversial,’ as he announced $1 trillion worth of deals with Mohammed bin Salman.
President Trump said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing about” the 2018 murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, though the CIA at the time assessed that the royal orchestrated the killing.
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. 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,” Mr Trump said Tuesday local time (Wednesday AEDT) about Mr Khashoggi after a reporter asked MBS, as the crown prince is known, about the murder. Turning to his counterpart, Mr Trump said: “But he knew nothing about it.”
The crown prince, who returned to the Oval Office for the first time since the killing, replied that, “It’s really painful to hear anyone losing his life for no real purpose or not in a legal way,” insisting his country had conducted an investigation to ensure nothing like the assassination happens again. “It’s a big mistake.”
Mr Khashoggi was a Saudi dissident and US resident who repeatedly spoke out about the kingdom’s repressive regime. His grisly murder in a Saudi consulate in Turkey led to intense blowback in Washington, with members of both parties calling for severed ties between the US and the kingdom.
“What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights,” Mr Trump said of Prince Mohammed, later calling him “one of the most respected leaders in the world.” MBS responded that his country would look to invest $US1 trillion in the US economy, adding that opportunities “are increasing more and more.”
A CIA assessment of the murder in 2018 found that MBS had orchestrated the killing of the writer. Those involved “should be held responsible,” Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, where Mr Khashoggi lived, said Tuesday.
In 2018, Mr Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t interfere in the 2016 presidential election, despite the US intelligence community’s assessment that the Kremlin organised an influence campaign and favoured the Republican’s campaign. That moment was widely seen as a low point in Mr Trump’s first term.
Press questions on Tuesday touched on a number of sensitive topics. An ABC News reporter asked why Mr Trump urged Congress to call for releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files instead of putting them out himself. Mr Trump ignored the question and threatened to revoke the network’s television license.
“I think the license should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong.” Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, “should look at that,” Mr Trump continued.
Mr Trump also brushed aside questions about his family’s longstanding business ties to Saudi Arabia, causing ethics concerns about the mix of his presidential and personal relations with Riyadh.
While he no longer has any formal role in the family business, Mr Trump said, “what my family does is fine. They do business all over. They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually, I’m sure they could do a lot, and anything they’ve done has been very good.”
Moments before his Oval Office comments on Tuesday, Mr Trump greeted the Saudi crown prince at the South Portico flanked by senior Saudi and US officials. American troops rode horses and carried the flags of both nations before drums rolled and trumpets blared as the crown prince’s limousine rolled up to where Mr Trump awaited with an outstretched hand. They stood to watch a formation of six jet fighters, three F-35s and three F-15s, before going inside to start their meetings.
Trump administration officials say the world leaders will tout a multibillion-dollar investment in U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure, co-operate on civil nuclear energy, and detail how Riyadh plans to pump investments into the American economy. Mr Trump added to his previous comments that Riyadh would be purchasing advanced F-35 jet fighters.
“We’re going to have a deal. They’re going to purchase F-35 and buy them from Lockheed,” Mr Trump told reporters, referring to Lockheed Martin, the defence contractor that manufactures the aircraft.
Mr Trump didn’t say how many of the planes the Saudis want to buy, but he said the kingdom should get “top of the line” versions of the fighter that would be “pretty similar” to the F-35 models Israel has been getting.
“Israel is going to be happy,” he continued, acknowledging Israel’s preference that the sale be tied to a normalisation of its relations with Saudi Arabia without committing himself to that timing.
While the looming F-35 sale has garnered attention, the kingdom’s pursuit of advanced US chip technology is a priority for the crown prince, Arab and US officials say.
A White House fact sheet posted online later provided a general list on what the US and Saudi Arabia agreed to during the visit. Sales of the F-35 would take place in an undefined “future,” though Riyadh will receive 300 tanks.
Meanwhile, both countries signed a memorandum on the legal framework for potential agreement in which the US will help Saudi Arabia develop a civilian nuclear industry. Left unclear is whether Saudi Arabia could enrich uranium on its territory.
A separate agreement gives Riyadh more access to American artificial intelligence technologies. Saudi Arabia affirmed in a defence co-operation agreement that the US is its “primary strategic partner.”
“If there’s a transition away from a fossil-fuel dependent economy, he sees it in technology,” said Michael Ratney, who served as the US ambassador in Saudi Arabia from 2023 to 2025. “With cheap energy, big swaths of land, investible capital, they can create these data centres.”
Mr Trump also said that the two countries were working on a deal in which the US would help Saudi Arabia develop a civil nuclear industry.
Though US officials haven’t provided details of the prospective F-35 deal, it would be lucrative, too. The average cost of new F-35s is about $US100m a plane, including its airframe and engine.
Saudi Arabia already flies US-produced warplanes, including F-15Es. But the F-35 features advanced sensors and stealth technology.
Israel was the first country outside the consortium of nations that were involved in the development of the fighter to buy the F-35. It already has several dozen of the planes and is planning to buy a total of 75 of the jets.
The optics are also a prize for the crown prince. The attribution of fault for the Khashoggi murder made the kingdom’s de facto ruler an international pariah, even though the kingdom denied MBS’s involvement. But the crown prince made his way back onto the world stage through a yearslong mix of diplomacy and economic investments, culminating in a lavish return to the White House after nearly eight years.
The visit on Tuesday included a working lunch and later a dinner, where Trump announced he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, giving the kingdom special privileges for arms sales and greater defense ties with the US.
Those in attendance at the dinner included Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, Apple CEO Tim Cook, OpenAI president Greg Brockman, the president’s son Donald Trump Jr, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Paramount’s CEO David Ellison, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, administration officials such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Fox personalities such as Bret Baier, according to a guest list provided by the White House.
Mr Trump made the Gulf region the first major international trip of his second term, including a stop in Saudi Arabia during the three-country swing similarly focused on deepening economic ties. In Riyadh, MBS showered Mr Trump with praise and hosted him in opulent halls. By the end, Mr Trump boarded Air Force One with billions in economic investments and a new-found affection for the royal.
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