Trump sees no conflict of interest regarding his family's business in Saudi Arabia / The surprising answer given regarding the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi – VIDEO

US President Donald Trump denied on Tuesday any conflict of interest related to the businesses run by members of his family in Saudi Arabia, reports France Presse.

“I have nothing to do with my family's businesses. I abandoned them,” the US president said, when asked about this by a reporter in the Oval Office, while receiving Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, writes Agerpres.

“What my family is doing is very good. They do business everywhere. They have done very little with Saudi Arabia. In fact, I am sure they could do more, and everything they have done has been very good,” he added.

At the same time, at the start of their meeting at the White House, Trump praised the Saudi crown prince's “incredible” record on human rights.

“We have here in the Oval Office today a highly respected man, a longtime friend, a very good friend. I'm very proud of the work he's done. Everything he's done is incredible, both in terms of human rights and everything else,” the US president said alongside Mohammed bin Salman.

Trump: Khashoggi was 'extremely controversial'

In the context of the meeting, when asked about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 – a case that has long strained relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia, Donald Trump claimed that he was “an extremely controversial person”, but that the Saudi crown prince “knew nothing about it”, reports AFP.

“You're talking about a very controversial person. A lot of people didn't like this man you're talking about, whether you liked him or not, things happened, but he (Mohammed bin Salman) didn't know anything about it,” the US president said in the Oval Office, sitting next to the Saudi crown prince.

“And we can leave it at that. You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking him a question like that,” added Trump, visibly angry at the ABC journalist who had asked the question.

For his part, Mohammed bin Salman spoke of a “painful” episode for Saudi Arabia.

“We have taken all necessary steps to conduct the investigation. (…) It is painful and it is a huge mistake. And we are doing everything we can to make sure it never happens again,” he said.

Mohammed bin Salman is on his first visit to Washington since the 2018 assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist critical of the Saudi regime who lived in the United States. He was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by agents from Saudi Arabia.

His dismembered body was never found. Accused by the American intelligence services, Mohammed bin Salman was never targeted by Washington's sanctions.

$1 trillion investment in the US

For his part, the Saudi crown prince has promised the White House leader an investment of $1 trillion.

“We believe in America's future. I believe, Mr. President, that today and tomorrow we can announce that we are going to increase that $600 billion to nearly $1 trillion for investment,” he said in the Oval Office, a gesture welcomed by the US president.

Saudi prince promises to recognize Israel

In other news, Mohammed bin Salman said he wanted to work towards recognizing Israel “as soon as possible”.

“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords. But we also want to make sure that the path to a two-state solution is clearly laid out,” the Saudi leader said in the Oval Office alongside President Donald Trump.

He added that he had “a constructive discussion” on the issue with Trump and that “we will work on that to make sure we can create the right conditions as soon as possible to make this happen.”