‘Don’t embarrass our guest’: Trump defends MBS in Khashoggi muder case, snaps at reporter

US President Donald Trump has said visiting Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “knew nothing” about the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, contradicting Washington’s earlier conclusion that the kingdom’s de facto ruler was involved in the killing.

Trump’s comments came when he hosted MBS at the White House on Tuesday. Responding to a reporter’s question about Khashoggi’s murder, Trump said, “You’re mentioning someone who was extremely controversial. The gentleman you’re talking about, a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman. Whether you like him or don’t like him, things happen.”

This is MBS’s first visit to the US after his 2018 assassination. The President added, “But he [the Crown Prince] Didn’t know anything about it. You will not have to embarrass our guests.”

Is Trump right?

Trump’s latest statements contradict a US intelligence assessment in 2021, which concluded that the Crown Prince approved the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

Bin Salman said it was “painful” to hear about Khashoggi’s death but that his government “took all the right investigative steps.” “We’ve improved our systems to make sure something like this doesn’t happen. And it’s painful and it’s a big mistake,” he told reporters.

MBS has been strongly criticized by human rights groups not only for Khashoggi’s murder but also for suppressing dissent domestically. But the Crown Prince has also initiated major social reforms, dismantling some of the rigid social codes.

‘He should apologise’

Meanwhile, Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatra Khashoggi, demanded that MBS should “apologise” to her for her husband’s death.

“The Crown Prince said he was sorry, so he should meet me, apologize and compensate me for killing my husband,” she said on X. Hanan has been living in Washington DC after being granted asylum by the US following the death of her husband.