President Donald Trump rolled out the red carpet Tuesday for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It was a high-profile visit featuring military pomp, a trillion-dollar deal and one Oval Office moment that caught D.C.’s attention.
It was the crown prince’s first time at the White House since the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. And it didn’t take long for that history to collide with the optics of a carefully choreographed visit.
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A tense Oval Office moment
During an open-press spray, ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked, “Why should Americans trust the crown prince, given U.S. intelligence findings that he approved Khashoggi’s killing — and with 9/11 families openly furious about his visit?”
Trump responded, asking Bruce, “Who are you with?”
When Bruce responded, the president shot back: “ABC fake news — one of the worst.”
Trump proceeded to answer the question, saying, “A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you liked him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it.”
Trump said the crown prince shouldn’t be “embarrassed” with such questions. It was a response that seemed to surprise many in the room, given the CIA’s 2021 assessment that MBS had approved the operation.
MBS responds, calls the killing a ‘huge mistake’
After Trump finished, the crown prince gave a measured answer of his own. He condemned the 9/11 attacks and then addressed the murder directly.
He called Khashoggi’s killing “painful,” described it as a “huge mistake” and said Saudi Arabia had taken steps to ensure “that this doesn’t happen again.”
But he once again denied ordering the operation, something he has maintained since 2018.
Khashoggi’s widow, Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, posted a sharply worded message afterward, telling Trump: “There is no justification to murder my husband.”
A visit steeped in optics and high-stakes diplomacy
The White House welcomed MBS with all the ceremony of a state visit: military honor guard, a motorcade escorted onto the South Lawn and a fighter-jet flyover that included the F-35s Trump now says he’s prepared to sell to Riyadh.
Trump praised the crown prince as a “friend,” touted Saudi investment in U.S. industries and confirmed his plans to green-light a sale of those advanced jets, a move that would make Saudi Arabia the first Arab nation to acquire them.
The crown prince, meanwhile, used the moment to boost Saudi soft power and signal expanding ties with Washington.
He announced that the kingdom would increase its previously pledged $600 billion U.S. investment to roughly $1 trillion.
