Trump Defends Saudi Prince, Claims Assassinated Journalist Khashoggi Was “Controversial”

Donald Trump defended at a White House meeting the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

Trump, who welcomed MBS to the U.S. for the first time since Khashoggi’s assassination, berated a reporter for asking him about the killing and a CIA report that concluded the Saudi prince likely ordered it.

Khashoggi was killed on October 2, 2018, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, by a 15-member team of Saudi operatives, who allegedly strangled him, dismembered his body, and removed it.

On Monday, as Trump sat beside Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, he described Khashoggi as “controversial” and insisted the prince had nothing to do with his death, which is at odds with the U.S. intelligence report released in 2021 under the Biden administration.

“You’re mentioning someone that was extremely controversial,” Trump shot back at ABC White House correspondent Mary Bruce.

“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 [MBS] knew nothing about it,” Trump added. “You don’t have to embarrass our guests.”

MBS also responded to Bruce’s question, saying that Khashoggi’s death was “painful” and a “huge mistake,” but that Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” to investigate the killing.

“About the journalist, it’s really painful to hear anyone that [has] been losing his life for no real purpose or not in a legal way, and it’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

He added that the country “did all the right steps of investigation” and that “we are doing our best so that this doesn’t happen again.”

Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, slammed Trump over the comments in a statement on X and called on MBS to apologize to her.

“There is no justification to murder my husband,” she wrote. “While Jamal was a good, transparent, and brave man, many people may not have agreed with his opinions and desire for freedom of the press.

“The Crown Prince said he was sorry, so he should meet me, apologize, and compensate me for the murder of my husband.”

In an interview with CBS News, Elatr, who was granted political asylum in the U.S. in 2023, said it had been “seven years of hell.”

“This hurt me a lot. It’s taking away, as well, the freedom for the journalists to do their job. ... And what is the difference then between the U.S. and any dictatorship in a Middle Eastern country?”

Although the crown prince has insisted he had no involvement in Khashoggi’s death, he stated in a 2019 60 Minutes interview that, as Saudi Arabia’s leader, he accepts full responsibility.

“He admitted verbally, he took responsibility verbally, but he did not take any action to show the world there is rectifying of this crime,” Elatr told CBS.

“I did not receive an official apology myself as a wife, as they destroyed my life. They’ve taken my lover.”

In an editorial published after the White House meeting, The Washington Post, where Khashoggi worked as a columnist, slammed Trump’s comments.

“These distortions dishonor Khashoggi’s legacy, stand at odds with the facts, and are beneath the office of the president,” it said.

Khashoggi, whose uncle was Adnan Khashoggi—a notorious global arms dealer who brokered major deals between Western firms and Middle Eastern governments—held several jobs in Saudi media before moving to the U.S.

He worked as a journalist for Arab News and Al-Sharq al-Awsat, and later became the editor of Al Watan.

Khashoggi also advised Prince Turki Al-Faisal, the former intelligence chief, but his reform-minded views increasingly clashed with conservative elements inside the kingdom.

He was dismissed from his roles more than once after publishing pieces critical of religious and political authorities.

By 2017, when Khashoggi had grown sharply critical of Prince bin Salman’s rule and fearing repression, he left Saudi Arabia and settled in the U.S., where he became a Washington Post columnist.

From his exile, he condemned the Saudi government’s tightening grip on dissent, its human rights record, and its conduct in the war in Yemen, which made him a prominent, if divisive, voice for reform.

Trump, who visited Riyadh in May, is hoping that Prince bin Salman’s visit will secure U.S.–Saudi economic deals, deepen their strategic and defense partnership, and lock in long-term Saudi investment in key U.S. sectors.

Prince bin Salman on Tuesday vowed to increase the Saudi investment in the U.S. to $1 trillion, which is up from the $600 billion he promised earlier this year.

The pair also discussed the sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets, and while Trump is hoping to get the Saudis to sign on to the Abraham Accords, MBS said it was unlikely until there was a clear pathway for an independent Palestinian state.