Trump rejects intel linking Saudi prince to killing Khashoggi
Trump hosted Crown Prince bin Salman at the White House, deepening US-Saudi ties with a lavish visit that highlighted their growing partnership and strong personal rapport on global issues.
Washington: President Donald Trump on Tuesday brushed aside long-standing U.S. intelligence assessments that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was likely aware of, and may have approved, the 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The dismissal came even as Trump rolled out an exceptionally warm welcome for the Saudi leader, who arrived at the White House for his first visit in seven years and was treated more like a trusted ally than a controversial figure at the center of a global human rights outcry.
For years, the Khashoggi murder cast a dark shadow over U.S.–Saudi ties. The killing inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul shocked the world, triggered international condemnation, and forced Washington to publicly confront its long and complicated partnership with Riyadh. The incident had sent relations spiraling, especially among lawmakers and intelligence officials who insisted that the crown prince’s circle — if not the crown prince himself — played a direct role in the grisly plot against the outspoken journalist.
But on this visit, the tension that once defined the relationship appeared to have evaporated. Trump, resuming a familiar diplomatic posture, chose to emphasize strategic cooperation, shared regional goals, and personal rapport with the 40-year-old royal rather than revisiting the painful episode that had severed trust between the two countries. Describing the crown prince as “indispensable” to shaping the Middle East’s future, Trump made it clear that he was more interested in turning the page than reopening old wounds.
U.S. intelligence officials, however, had reached a different conclusion. A report declassified in early 2021 at the start of the Biden administration stated that Mohammed bin Salman had likely approved the operation carried out by Saudi agents. The Trump administration, during its first term, resisted releasing the document, arguing at the time that the findings were inconclusive. But for those who had closely followed the investigation, the intelligence community’s judgment was unambiguous, even if politically inconvenient.
“It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake,” one official familiar with the earlier assessment said, responding to Trump’s latest comments defending the Saudi leadership. For many in Washington, the issue has never been simply about diplomatic protocol — it has been about accountability for a killing that shocked the conscience of the world.
The crown prince’s visit, however, was not only about diplomacy and controversy. It also carried major economic headlines. Mohammed bin Salman announced that Saudi Arabia will expand its planned investments in the United States to USD 1 trillion, a dramatic increase from the USD 600 billion previously committed during Trump’s visit to Riyadh in 2017. The promise of such enormous capital inflows underscored the strategic importance of Saudi Arabia to the U.S. economy and offered Trump an opportunity to highlight job creation and economic partnership, core themes of his political message.
Yet Trump’s renewed defense of the crown prince and of his family’s business ties to Saudi Arabia drew sharp criticism from human rights advocates and transparency organizations. Activists argued that glossing over the Khashoggi case not only disrespects the slain journalist’s legacy but also signals to authoritarian leaders around the world that the U.S. is willing to ignore human rights abuses when strategic or financial incentives are strong enough.
Human rights groups have continued to highlight what they describe as systemic repression in Saudi Arabia, pointing to the arrests of dissidents, journalists, and human rights defenders. They also cite a rise in executions, which they argue reflects the kingdom’s growing intolerance for political dissent.
Still, the visit was not entirely dominated by past controversies. The crown prince reiterated Saudi Arabia’s position on the region’s most contested diplomatic challenge: the path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel, meanwhile, remains firmly opposed to a two-state solution, setting up yet another complex diplomatic hurdle in a region already full of them.
signaling that Saudi Arabia’s ambitions for regional peace remain tied to long-standing principles.