Trump defends Saudi prince over the murder of journalist Khashoggi: "Things happen"

WashingtonThe only leader who received a reception similar to that of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was President Russian Vladimir Putin in AnchorageAlaska. Donald Trump welcomed the Saudi Arabian leader on Tuesday to the South Lawn of the White House with the orchestra of the marine Playing a fanfare as soldiers on black horses escorted the limousine from which Bin Salman emerged. As with Putin, Trump flew a handful of F-35 fighter jets in a V formation over the White House, the same model the administration wants to begin marketing to Riyadh despite warnings from the Pentagon.

No other leader, or ally, who has visited Washington has been treated with such pomp and attention as the petro-prince. Nor is there any other politician with as many business dealings intertwined with the Trump clan as the Saudi monarchy. The US president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, founded Affinity Partners with a $2 billion investment from the Saudi government's public investment fund. Kushner, married to Ivanka, has always had close ties in the region, which he recently used to mediate the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza.

Pulling strings seems to have worked: the $600 billion Saudi Arabia planned to invest in the United States has ballooned to $1 trillion. The prince assured Trump that his country "believes in America's future," hence the sudden increase in the advance payment.

Since his last visit to the United States seven years ago, Bin Salman has steadily gained power and influence internationally, making it difficult for Washington to ignore him. It has also been seven years since Saudi agents murdered and dismembered the columnist for the Washington PostJamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, This made Prince Mohammed an international pariah for a time, and many of those new friends disappeared. When questioned about Khashoggi's murder, Trump rushed to defend his "friend" and dismissed it as "fake news." It was a US intelligence report that determined Riyadh's involvement in the journalist's murder; however, the tycoon claimed that the US "knew nothing" about it.

"You're mentioning someone who was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like the person you're talking about. Whether you liked him or not, these things happen," the president added, not hesitating to reprimand the journalist for trying to scrutinize the Saudi representative: "That's right." He once again emphasized to reporters that neither he nor "the future king" should be in the Oval Office answering questions, but that they were. "There has never been such transparency," said Trump, who wants to pass off his constant public exposure as genuine oversight of his actions.

He also dismissed questions about the potential conflict of interest posed by the Trump family's business dealings in Saudi Arabia. The president said he has "nothing to do with the family business." "What my family does is fine." "They do business everywhere," he argued, attempting to downplay the ties with Riyadh: "They've actually done very little with Saudi Arabia; I'm sure they could do a lot more."

Shortly afterward, annoyed by questions from an ABC reporter about the Epstein papers, Trump attacked her personally—"You're a terrible person and a terrible journalist"—and has directly threatened the network with taking away its broadcasting license. "I think ABC's license should be revoked because their news is so fake and so wrong, and we have a great commissioner, a president, who should look into it," the president said, referring to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr. Just hours earlier, a video had surfaced showing Trump berating a Bloomberg reporter, rudely telling her and pointing his finger at her, "Shut up, shut up, piggy!"

Military technology and warplanes

The visit is slated to include the signing of a mutual defense alliance between the US and Saudi Arabia, which aims to advance a potential agreement to transfer US nuclear technology to Riyadh and establish a framework for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. The president has hinted that negotiations on this cooperation are underway, but has not specified any concrete date. On Monday, Trump announced that talks were also underway to sell US F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, despite warnings from the Pentagon. Several intelligence reports have warned about the possibility of China acquiring the aircraft technology if the sale goes ahead. In recent years, Bin Salman has not only entertained influential US figures—from Hollywood actors to major investors and politicians—but has also worked to strengthen ties with Beijing. But this doesn't seem to worry Trump. Nevertheless, Trump also hoped to trick the Saudi prince into establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. Bin Salman has expressed openness to joining the Abraham Accords to normalize relations between Arab countries and Israel – Morocco and the UAE already joined in 2020 – and has said that Riyadh wants to participate in order to establish relations, but first needs to see clearly that there is a "path to one."