Donald Trump has described murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi as “extremely controversial” as he defended the Saudi Crown Prince on his Oval Office visit.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and dissident, was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A US intelligence report made public in 2021 determined that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – the de factor rule of the nation – approved the operation to kill Khashoggi.
But on Bin Salman’s visit to the White House this week – the first since the killing – Trump contradicted this.
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He said the prince “knew nothing” of Khashoggi’s assassination, and seemed to suggest the late journalist had it coming by labelling him an “extremely controversial” figure who “a lot of people didn’t like.”
Speaking to reporters alongside Bin Salman in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about Khashoggi’s death by a reporter.
He snapped back: “You’re mentioning someone that was 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 happen.
“But he [the Crown Prince] knew nothing about it. You don’t have to embarrass our guests.”
Bin Salman said Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” in their investigation of the murder, which he described as “painful” and a “huge mistake.”
In another moment, Trump labelled ABC’s Chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce “fake news” after she asked about Khashoggi’s killing and said the families of the 9/11 victims were “furious” at the crown prince’s White House visit.
The US intelligence report made public in 2021 concluded the crown prince had approved of a plan to “capture or kill” Khashoggi in Istanbul.
Reacting to the comments on X, Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan called for a meeting with the crown prince and an apology along with compensation for her husband’s murder.
She also pointed out in an interview with BBC Newsnight that Bin Salman had already acknowledged responsibility for her husband’s murder in a 2019 interview.
“The crown prince himself, in 2019 and 60 Minutes interview, he did take accountability about and hold responsibility about this horrible crime,” she said.