Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi

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Trump defends Saudi crown prince over question about killing of Khashoggi November 18, 20251:19 PM ET

President Trump takes the hand of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday.

President Trump takes the hand of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Tuesday. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images

President Trump defended Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman when questioned in the Oval Office Tuesday about CIA findings that the prince orchestrated the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said, referring to Khashoggi. “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, but he knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.”

The CIA concluded the crown prince approved the 2018 operation that killed and dismembered Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey, but Salman maintained he had no knowledge of the attack, which he’s called “heinous” and “unjustifiable.”

Sponsor MessageSaudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. Five years on, there has been little accountability — and human rights groups say that has implications for free expression around the world.

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5 years after Khashoggi’s murder, advocates say the lack of justice is dangerous

On Tuesday, he said that his country has “improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it’s painful, and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

Trump also dismissed questions about a conflict of interest regarding his family’s business ties to Saudi Arabia while hosting Salman as president. He said that he has “nothing to do” with the family business and added that while he helped build a successful business, he “decided to leave that success behind and make America very successful.”

The two men touted a deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia that would bring hundreds of billions in investment into the United States in exchange for access to key military and technology assets for the Gulf nation.

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