Trump defends Saudi crown prince over journalist’s murder

President Donald Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Washington on Wednesday as the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia made his first White House visit since the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.

Trump warmly received Prince Mohammed when he arrived at the White House for a pomp-filled arrival ceremony that included a military flyover and a thundering greeting from the US Marine band.

The US-Saudi relationship had been sent into a tailspin by the operation targeting Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the kingdom, that US intelligence agencies later determined Prince Mohammed likely directed the agents to carry out.

But seven years later, the dark clouds over the relationship have been cleared away. And Trump has tightened his embrace of the 40-year-old crown prince he views as an indispensable player in shaping the Middle East in the decades to come. Prince Mohammed, for his part, denies involvement in the killing of Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen and Virginia resident.

Khashoggi was an afterthought as the two leaders unveiled billions of dollars in deals and huddled with aides to discuss the tricky path ahead in a volatile Middle East. They'll end their day with an evening White House soiree, organised by first lady Melania Trump, to honour the prince.

The President dismissed questions to the crown prince about the journalist's killing.

“Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen,” Trump said of the international incident when asked about it by a reporter during an Oval Office appearance with Prince Mohammed.

“But he knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”

US intelligence officials determined that the Saudi crown prince likely approved the killing by Saudi agents of the US-based journalist inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, according to US findings declassified in 2021 at the start of the Biden administration.

Trump officials, during his first administration, refused to release the report.

Prince Mohammed said Saudi Arabia “did all the right steps” to investigate Khashoggi’s death.

“It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake,” he said.

Trump, during an Oval Office meeting with the prince by his side, commended the Saudi leader for strides made by the kingdom on human rights without providing any specific detail.

“I’m very proud of the job he’s done,” Trump said. “What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else.”

The crown prince, for his part, announced Saudi Arabia was increasing its planned investments in the US to US$1 trillion (NZ$1.7 trillion), up from US$600 billion (NZ$1 trillion) that the Saudis said they planned to invest in the United States when Trump visited the kingdom in May.

Trump's family has a strong personal interest in the kingdom. In September, London real estate developer Dar Global announced that it plans to launch Trump Plaza in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

It's Dar Global's second collaboration with the Trump Organisation, the collection of companies controlled by the US President's children, in Saudi Arabia. Last year, the two companies announced the launch of Trump Tower Jeddah.

Trump pushed back on the notion Tuesday that there was a conflict of interest.

“I have nothing to do with the family business,” said Trump, adding that his family has relatively little interest in the kingdom.

Technically, it's not a state visit, because the crown prince is not the head of state. But Prince Mohammed has taken charge of the day-to-day governing for his father, King Salman, 89, who has endured health problems in recent years.

Most foreign leaders who come to meet with Trump are driven up to the doors of the West Wing, where the President often greets them. But Prince Mohammed, accompanied by the Saudi prime minister, was welcomed with a formal arrival ceremony on the South Lawn.

Trump then showed the prince the newly-installed Presidential Walk of Fame that features gold-framed images of past presidents along the West Wing colonnade and a photo of an autopen signing the name of former President Joe Biden in place of the Democrat’s official portrait.

An Oval Office meeting and luncheon in the Cabinet Room will follow.

Trump will then see the crown prince off in the afternoon, but he’s expected to return to the South Lawn, with the first lady, to welcome the crown prince when he returns for the evening East Room dinner.

Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese football great who is playing in the Saudi Pro League, is also expected to be at the White House during the crown prince's visit, according to a White House official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In addition to White House pomp, the two nations are also planning an investment summit at the Kennedy Centre on Wednesday that will include the heads of Salesforce, Qualcomm, Pfizer, the Cleveland Clinic, Chevron and Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil and natural gas company, where even more deals with the Saudis could be announced.

Ahead of Prince Mohammed's arrival, Trump announced he had agreed to sell the Saudis F-35 fighter jets despite some concerns within the administration that the sale could lead to China gaining access to the US technology behind the advanced weapon system.

Trump's announcement is also surprising because some in the Republican administration have been wary about upsetting Israel’s qualitative military edge over its neighbours, especially at a time when Trump is depending on Israeli support for the success of his Gaza peace plan.

But the unexpected move comes at a moment when Trump is trying to nudge the Saudis toward normalising relations with Israel.

The President in his first term had helped forge commercial and diplomatic ties between Israel and Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates through an effort dubbed the Abraham Accords.

Trump sees expansion of the accords as essential to his broader efforts to build stability in the Middle East after the two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

And getting Saudi Arabia — the largest Arab economy and the birthplace of Islam — to sign on would spur a domino effect, he argues. The President in recent weeks has even predicted that once Saudi Arabia signs on to the accords, “everybody” in the Arab world “goes in”.

But the Saudis have maintained that a clear path toward Palestinian statehood must first be established before normalising relations with Israel can be considered. The Israelis, meanwhile, remain steadfastly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The UN Security Council on Monday approved a US plan for Gaza that authorises an international stabilisation force to provide security in the devastated territory and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

The leaders certainly will have plenty to talk about, including maintaining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, mutual concerns about Iran’s malign behaviour, and a brutal civil war in Sudan.

And the Saudis are looking to receive formal assurances from Trump defining the scope of US military protection for the kingdom, even though anything not ratified by Congress can be undone by the next president.

Prince Mohammed, 40, who has stayed away from the West after the Khashoggi killing, is also looking to reestablish his position as a global player and a leader determined to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil by investing in sectors like mining, technology and tourism.

To that end, Saudi Arabia is expected to announce a multi-billion-dollar investment in US artificial intelligence infrastructure, and the two countries will lay out details about new cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector, according to a senior Trump administration official who was not authorised to comment publicly ahead of the formal announcement.

A coalition of 11 human rights groups, ahead of the crown prince’s visit, called on the Trump administration to use its leverage to press Saudi authorities, who badly want to broaden their business and defence connections with the US, to make concrete commitments on human rights and press freedom during the visit.

The activists say Saudi authorities continue to harshly repress dissent, including by arresting human rights defenders, journalists, and political dissidents for criticism against the kingdom. Human rights organisations have also documented a surge in executions in Saudi Arabia that they connect to an effort to suppress internal dissent.

“Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is trying to rebrand himself as a global statesman, but the reality at home is mass repression, record numbers of executions, and zero tolerance for dissent," Sarah Yager, Washington director at the group Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "US officials should be pressing for change, not posing for photos.”