Donald Trump has shrugged off the Saudi regime’s 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, saying the journalist was “extremely controversial” and unpopular.
The US president made the remarks at the White House on Tuesday while welcoming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment in Istanbul by Saudi state operatives.
US intelligence agencies later made a formal assessment that the prince had ordered the killing, but Trump insisted on Tuesday that “he knew nothing about it”.
Trump castigated the ABC News journalist who asked a question about the murder, suggesting that ABC should lose its broadcasting licence, and describing Khashoggi as “extremely controversial”.
“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happened, but he knew nothing about it,” Trump said, referring to the crown prince.
Prince Mohammed said: “It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”
Trump sought to highlight promised Saudi investment in the US economy which was billed at the start of the White House meeting as totally $600bn, but which the crown prince said at Trump’s prompting could ultimately total $1 trillion.
Trump confirmed that he intended to sell “top of the line” F-35 stealth fighter jets to Riyadh, over the objections of Israel and concerns of the US intelligence community. And the two men confirmed that they were discussing a deal by which Saudi Arabia would normalise relations with Israel in return for a commitment to a two-state solution, implying the establishment of Palestine as a sovereign state.
Although the Saudi prince’s visit was billed as a working trip, it had all the theatrics of a state visit, with soldiers on horseback carrying US and Saudi flags and a flypass of F-16 and F-35 jets.
Trump’s offer to sell Saudi Arabia F-35s has triggered anxiety in Israel, which is currently the only country in the Middle East with the advanced plane. It has also alarmed US intelligence agencies because of Saudi Arabia’s close security ties with China, bringing up concerns about the theft of the F-35’s technology.
However, Trump insisted that he was prepared to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia of the same advanced specification as those the US sells to Israel, on the grounds that good allies of the US.
“When you look at the F-35 and you’re asking me is it the same I think it’s going to be pretty similar,” Trump said. “This is a great ally and Israel’s a great out And I know they’d like you to get planes of reduced calibre. I don’t think that makes you too happy … As far as I’m concerned, I think they are both at a level where they should get top of the line.”
Alongside weapons sales, US officials said the administration was expecting a multibillion-dollar Saudi investment in America’s AI industry, deeper cooperation in establishing a civil nuclear power industry in Saudi Arabia.
“We can announce that we are going to increase that $600bn to almost $1tn for investment,” Prince Mohammed said as he sat next Trump in the Oval Office. The president smiled broadly and asked him to confirm the figure. “Definitely,” the Saudi leader replied.
“That really counts is jobs, a lot of jobs, so I just want to thank you,” Trump said. We’ve been really good friends for a long period of time. We’ve always been on the same side of every issue.”
He added: “I just want to say it’s an honour to be your friend. And it’s and honour that you’re here.”
The Trump White House is also seeking to make a deal with Riyadh which Joe Biden’s administration tried but failed to clinch: nuclear and security cooperation with the US in return for Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords with a normalisation agreement with Israel.
However, the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023 followed by two years of Israeli bombardment of Gaza, in which over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed, have complicated the prospects of such an accord.
“After 7 October I think the price for Saudi sign-up to normalisation with Israel has gone way up,” former US Middle East negotiator, Aaron David Miller, told CNN.
“We want to be part of the Abraham Accords, but we also want to be sure that we secure a clear path of two-state solution,” Prince Mohammed said on Tuesday. “And today we have a healthy discussion with Mr President that we’re going to work on that to be sure that you can prepare for the right situation as soon as possible.”
Trump agreed, saying: “We’ve had a very good talk on the Abraham Accords. We talked about one state, two state.”
“We talked about a lot of things in a short period of time. We’ll be discussing it further,” Trump added. “But I think you have a very good feeling for the Abraham accords.”
The visit is also controversial because of the blurred lines between the Trump family’s private business interests in the Gulf. The president denied any conflict of interest, claiming he had relinquished control of his business empire.
“I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left and I’ve devoted 100% of my energy [to the presidency],” he said, adding: “What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually. I’m sure they could do a lot. And anything they’ve done has been very good.”
