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Donald Trump dismissed questions about journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder on Tuesday, as he defended his “friend” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and touted up to $1tn of investment from the kingdom.
Speaking alongside Prince Mohammed in the Oval Office, the US president lashed out after reporters asked him about Khashoggi’s killing by Saudi agents. The questioning “embarrass[ed]” the kingdom’s de facto ruler, Trump said, and was an episode “he knew nothing about”.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman you’re talking about,” Trump added, referring to Khashoggi, a widely respected Saudi journalist.
The killing was a “huge mistake”, Prince Mohammed said. “We are doing our best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Saudi agents killed Khashoggi, who wrote for publications including The Washington Post, in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 and dismembered his body. The CIA concluded that Prince Mohammed approved the mission to “capture or kill” the journalist. Riyadh blamed it on a rogue operation.
Trump’s comments followed a lavish Washington welcome for the crown prince — including a 21-gun salute and military flyover — ahead of a series of deals that are expected to be signed by the countries, including on security. Prince Mohammed said Saudi investment into the US could reach $1tn.
The pledges on Tuesday came after Trump said he would sell F35 stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and was “working on” export licences for advanced chips, underscoring the president’s pursuit of a stronger US-Saudi relationship in his second term. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said there might be an announcement on an agreement later on Tuesday.
He also said he had agreed a defence pact with the kingdom.
The leaders gave no timeframe for the expanded Saudi investment pledge, which comes as the world’s largest oil exporter grapples with lower crude prices and a widening budget deficit, leading it to slow some of its domestic megaprojects.
Prince Mohammed had earlier this year committed to invest $600bn in the US over four years.
The visit comes at a sensitive political moment for Trump, who is battling low approval ratings, dissatisfaction with his handling of inflation and pressure to release documents related to late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The president’s domestic opponents have also attacked his blurring of family business interests with US foreign policy. Asked about these issues in the Oval Office by a reporter with ABC News, Trump threatened to revoke the US network’s broadcast licence.
“Fake news,” he said. “I have nothing to do with the family business.”
Trump, who has openly courted investment from the oil-rich Gulf, 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 — is intended to strengthen decades of co-operation between Riyadh and Washington but also to cement access to American technology, co-operation on Riyadh’s nascent nuclear programme and foreign investment to back his ambitious plans to develop the kingdom and reduce its dependence on oil.
A Trump administration official said the two leaders would make announcements on a “multibillion-dollar investment in America’s AI infrastructure”, co-operation to develop Saudi Arabia’s civil nuclear programme and “fulfilments” of Prince Mohammed’s earlier $600bn investment pledge. It included a $142bn defence deal that the White House described as the single biggest arms sale in history.
A host of American and Saudi chief executives are expected to attend a black-tie dinner for the Saudi delegation at the White House on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Trump will host a US-Saudi business forum.
Trump and Prince Mohammed also discussed the president’s ongoing effort to convince Saudi Arabia to normalise relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords.
The crown prince said Riyadh first wanted to see a “clear path” to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The kingdom was edging towards a deal with the Biden administration to have formal diplomatic ties with Israel, but the process was upended after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack triggered Israel’s war in Gaza.
Prince Mohammed has since accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and insisted the kingdom would only agree to normalise ties if a Palestinian state was established.
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