This is the first visit to the U.S. by a de facto leader of Saudi Arabia since the Biden administration discovered in 2021 that Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.while he was staying at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Why did Donald Trump defend the Saudi prince?
When was Mohammed bin Salman's first visit to the US?
What investments did the Saudi prince make in the US?
What did Mohammed bin Salman say about Jamal Khashoggi's death?
When asked about this intelligence report, Trump defended the Crown Prince, who a few minutes earlier he pledged to invest up to $1 trillion. [ok. 3,66 bln zł] in the USA. “He did a phenomenal job,” Trump said of Mohammed, adding: “Stuff happens, but he didn't know anything about it.”
The president rebuked a reporter who asked about the intelligence reports, saying “you don't have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that” and calling her station, ABC, “fake news.”
“You mention a person who was extremely controversial,” Trump said of Khashoggi. — Many people didn't like this gentleman you're talking about, whether you liked him or not, such things happen…
Saudi Prince: It's really painful
Saudi Arabia – over which the prince exercises authoritarian control – rejected the US intelligence assessment. It claims to have punished those responsible for Khashoggi's death.
Responding to questions in the Oval Office, Mohammed said that “it's really painful to hear about someone losing their life for no real purpose or for anything illegal – that was painful for us in Saudi Arabia.”
He called it a “huge mistake.” “We are making every effort to ensure that this does not happen again,” the prince assured.
