Trump defends Saudi crown prince over Khashoggi murder: ‘Things happen’

(WASHINGTON) — Tuesday marked the first time Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has set foot in the U.S. since 2018, following what U.S. intelligence has said was his approval of an operation that led to the murder of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, causing global outrage. 

As they met in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump responded to questions about 9/11 families angered over the visit, saying, “things happen, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that.”

Shortly before, Trump welcomed him to the White House with a lavish arrival ceremony, complete with Saudi flags next to American flags, a red carpet, horses and a color guard.

Cannons were fired in the background and a military flyover, featuring three F-35 and three F-16s fighters, took place overhead.

Trump and MBS shook hands and smiled for the cameras before entering their bilateral meeting.

“It’s an honor to be your friend and it’s an honor that you’re here,” Trump told later MBS inside the Oval Office.

The crown prince has previously denied ordering the murder of Khashoggi but ultimately acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom’s de facto ruler.

Trump denies conflict of interest, defends MBS over Khashoggi death

ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump about whether there was a conflict of interest with his family doing business in Saudi Arabia while he was president, as The Trump Organization has multiple active projects in the kingdom.

Last month, the Trump Organization also announced plans for a Trump Plaza to be built in Saudi Arabia, complete with “a vibrant green spine inspired by Central Park that brings Manhattan-style vibrancy to the heart of Jeddah.”

Trump insisted he has nothing to do with his family business.

“What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually. They could. I’m sure they could do a lot. And anything they’ve done has been very good,” he said.

Bruce also brought up Khashoggi’s murder and the anger 9/11 families have expressed over MBS’s visit to the Oval Office. The kingdom has long been under fire over its alleged role in the attacks.

Trump defended MBS over the Khashoggi death and told Bruce, “You don’t have to embarrass our guest asking a question like this.”

“As far as this gentleman is concerned, he’s done a phenomenal job,” the president said of the prince. “You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” he 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 we can leave it at that.”

MBS addressed both issues.

“I feel painful about families of 9-11 in America, but we have to focus on reality,” he said.

The prince alleged that Osama bin Laden used Saudis to destroy the relationship between the kingdom and the United States.

“We’ve been working to prove [bin Laden] wrong and continuing developing our nation. It is critical for the safety of the world,” he said.

MBS said of “the journalist” that “it’s really painful to hear, anyone losing their life for no real purpose.”

“It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia,” he said. “We’ve did all the right steps of, investigation, etc., in Saudi Arabia, and we’ve 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 will host a dinner for the Saudi leader on Tuesday night with a who’s who of guests.

Billionaire Elon Musk was slated to attend, marking his first time back in the White House after he left the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a source with knowledge of the plans told ABC News.

Soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays in the Saudi Pro League, will also be at the White House Tuesday, a White House official confirmed to ABC News.

Ahead of the Tuesday meeting, the crown prince had apparently scored a highly coveted weapons deal that includes advanced F-35 fighter jets from the U.S. 

Trump confirmed on Monday during an event in the Oval Office that he plans to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia as part of a weapons deal, which experts say would mark the first time those jets have been sold to an Arab military.

A focus on defense and business

Trump and MBS spoke with reporters in the Oval Office, where the president said he was “very proud” of the job the crown prince had done.

The president touted the business deals and economic cooperation.

“We’ve been really good friends for a long period of time. We’ve always been on the same side of every issue,” Trump told MBS as he smiled on.

Now more than seven years later, the Saudi leader has business on his mind as he seeks to deepen ties with the U.S. through cooperation on oil and security, while also expanding the regime’s global outreach in finance, artificial intelligence and technology. Saudi Arabia notably boasts the world’s largest economy and maintains its lead as the world’s top oil producer. 

The prince’s trip to the U.S. is being billed as an “official working visit,” and is designed to follow up and advance on Trump’s May appearance in Riyadh — the first official visit of Trump’s second term in office. 

During that May visit, Trump announced a $142 billion arms package with the Saudis, which according to a White House fact sheet was the “the largest defense cooperation agreement” Washington has ever done.

“A lot of the financial and economic and artificial intelligence deals that they announced that were very ambiguous six months ago, I think we might start to see some teeth from them this time around and hopefully get a little bit more clarity on what those deals actually are,” said Elizabeth Dent, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former director for the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula in the office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon.

The agreement covers deals with more than a dozen U.S. defense companies in areas including air and missile defense, air force and space advancement, maritime security and communications, the fact sheet said.

Features from the deals included, a multi-billion dollar investment in America’s AI infrastructure, enhanced cooperation on civil nuclear energy, defense sales to enhance defense cooperation between both countries and fulfillments of the Saudis’ $600 billion investment pledge via dozens of targeted investments.

The kingdom in turn announced a $600 billion investment in the U.S. spanning multiple sectors, including energy security, defense, technology, global infrastructure and critical minerals. 

“We believe, in the future openness of America. We believe in what you’re doing, Mr. President, really creating a lot of good things on good foundation to create more economic growth, more business in America,” the crown prince said.

Some of the other notable deals announced under the $600 billion pledge included investments in: U.S.-based artificial intelligence data centers and energy infrastructure; advanced technologies; Saudi infrastructure projects; U.S. energy equipment and commercial aircraft; the U.S. health care supply chain; and U.S. sports industries.

The potential sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the Saudi kingdom is likely to cause consternation from Israel. 

U.S. law requires that any weapons sale package to countries in the Middle East does not risk Israel’s security, and it’s unclear if Trump has cleared that hurdle in permitting the sale of fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. 

“There’s a whole host of issues that encompass this. Part of it is that Israel has to be able to maintain their congressionally-mandated qualitative military edge, which Congress does determine that,” Dent said. “And so, if the deal goes forward, I think we just have to see how they’re going to figure out the best way to ensure Israel can maintain that, as the only country in the Middle East that currently has F-35s.”

“I think the Israelis are probably pretty uncomfortable with these rumors swirling around without normalization in sight,” Dent added.

Saudis insist on ‘credible pathway’ to Palestinian statehood

The Saudi leader is seeking security guarantees from the U.S. amid turbulence in the Middle East. The security agreement with the U.S. has been in a development stage and has not yet been formalized, but the kingdom is seeking to deepen military and security ties between the two countries. 

The security guarantees are viewed by some as part of a larger regional “megadeal” involving normalization with Israel, something Trump will surely push for, even as the Saudi kingdom has refused to do so under the current Israeli leadership.

Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that he would discuss the issue with the crown prince.

“I hope that Saudi Arabia will be going into the Abraham Accords fairly shortly,” he said.

Earlier this year, Trump signed an unprecedented defense pact with Qatar via executive order that recognizes the “enduring alliance” between the U.S. and Qatar and provides Qatar an explicit security guarantee in the event of “external attack.” 

Many analysts have said they believe the Saudis are looking for a similar defense pact with the U.S. 

“I think it’ll be kind of similar to Qatar’s, where it basically just says it will consider any sort of threat or attack on Saudi Arabia to be an attack on the United States, and then the United States will respond appropriately, which could range from political to military options. So, I think that the administration will make sure to give themselves that decision space,” Dent said. “There’s a lot to work through here. Obviously, I think a lot of it will be about expectation management.”

The kingdom is notably invested in implementing the president’s 20-point Gaza peace plan. The kingdom has previously stated it wants to see the emergence of a credible path toward an independent and a free Palestine as a condition for supporting the demilitarization of Hamas and reconstruction of Gaza. 

But Israel has put up a roadblock to Palestinian statehood, which will undoubtedly cause angst among Arab regional partners who are pushing for sustained peace in Gaza.

“Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday during his weekly cabinet meeting. “Gaza will be demilitarized and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way.”

Netanyahu has long opposed a Palestinian state, saying in recent months that its creation would only reward Hamas and endanger Israel’s security.

ABC News’ Christopher Boccia, Will Steakin and Hannah Demissie contributed to this report. 

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