US President Donald Trump has defended the Saudi Crown Prince, lashing out at a journalist for trying to “embarrass our guest” after she pressed the leader over the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Trump claimed Mohammed bin Salman knew nothing about the Washington Post journalist’s assassination and fiercely backed the Saudi leader, even contradicting a US intelligence assessment.
A reporter from ABC News pressed bin Salam over Khashoggi’s killing as the Saudi leader made his first White House visit in more than seven years, as he tries to restore his global image following the incident.
US intelligence agencies had concluded that bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom's de facto ruler.
"A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about, whether you like him or didn't like him," Trump told reporters, with bin Salman sitting beside him. "Things happened, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that."
Bin Salman said it had been "painful" to hear about Khashoggi's death but that his government "did all the right steps of investigation." "We've improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it's painful and it's a huge mistake," he told reporters.
Trump lashed out at the ABC reporter, labelling the broadcaster as “fake news” before quipping “you don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that”.
The president also praised the crown prince for doing an "incredible" job on human rights, but did not elaborate.
Trump later announced that he was designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, and the two sides announced agreements on arms sales, civil nuclear cooperation, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.
Trump's treatment of bin Salman prompted a rebuke from Khashoggi's widow. "Nothing (can) justify just a horrible crime ... because he's controversial or he's unliked by someone," Hanan Elatr Khashoggi told Reuters in an interview, adding that she wished Trump would meet with her so she could introduce him to the "real Jamal."
Bin Salman has been strongly criticised by human rights groups not only for the Khashoggi killing but for his crackdown on dissent at home. But the crown prince has also unleashed major social reforms that have swept away some austere social codes.
The meeting underscores a key relationship - between the world's biggest economy and the top oil exporter - that Trump has made a high priority in his second term as the international uproar around the killing of Khashoggi has gradually faded.
The White House announced Trump had approved future deliveries of F-35 fighter jets and the Saudis had agreed to purchase 300 American tanks.
The sale of the stealth fighter jets to the kingdom, which has requested to buy 48 of the advanced aircraft, would mark the first US sale of the advanced fighter jets to Riyadh, a significant policy shift.
The deal could alter the military balance in the Middle East and test Washington's definition of maintaining what the US has termed Israel's "qualitative military edge." Until now, Israel has been the only country in the Middle East to have the F-35.
