Bloomberg: US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing about” the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, as the pair met to announce a deepening of economic ties at the White House.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said when asked about Khashoggi alongside the Saudi prince in the Oval Office. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”
The comments represent a sweeping official rehabilitation for MBS, as Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader is known, after a US intelligence report in 2021 implicated the 40-year-old royal in the death of Khashoggi, who was killed in a Saudi consulate in Turkey seven years ago. That finding soured relations between the oil-rich kingdom and many longstanding Western allies — including Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.
In contrast, Trump told reporters Tuesday that MBS had done an “incredible” job on human rights.
The two leaders said they expected talks around the Crown Prince’s visit to Washington to focus on expanding Saudi Arabia’s investment in the US to as much as $1 trillion from a purported $600 billion previously. Trump said the US was likely to approve a defense agreement with Riyadh — without giving further detail — and a civil nuclear deal.
He reiterated that Washington would sell F-35 fighters to Saudi Arabia, adding that Israel, which had opposed the move, would “be happy.”
Israel, the chief US ally in the Middle East, is the only state in the region that has the Lockheed Martin Corp.-made advanced military jets and had wanted to keep that monopoly. However, Trump’s say-so is just an initial step in what’s likely to require years of negotiations, with Washington wary about the technology being shared elsewhere, particularly with China.
On Tuesday, attendees at the dinner at the White House are expected to include Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and golfer Tiger Woods, Punchbowl News reported. Senior executives from leading tech and energy firms are scheduled to attend an investment forum on Wednesday.
Overshadowing much of Tuesday’s flurry of cooperation is that the US-Saudi relationship depends on MBS’s warm rapport with Trump, which dates back to the US leader’s first term. The deals — including the potential defense pact — are likely to lack binding commitments that must be secured through Congress and could be unwound by any future president.
