President Donald Trump was harshly criticized after he pushed back against concerns about hosting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Oval Office on Tuesday due to his involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and even suggested that Khashoggi deserved it because people "didn't like" him.
Saudi Arabia had initially denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s disappearance but claimed via state media in October 2018 that he had been strangled in a fistfight with 15 men sent to confront him at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The Kingdom blamed some of the Crown Prince’s inner circle for the murder, and several high-ranking officials were dismissed if not detained outright.
The intelligence community has concluded that the Crown Prince ordered Khoshoggi's murder. In fact, sources familiar with Khashoggi’s case told reporters that Khashoggi’s murder “was organized by a high-ranking officer with the General Intelligence Presidency, Saudi Arabia’s main intelligence service.” Khashoggi’s body was cut into pieces after he was killed, according to a Turkish official.
As he presided over a visit for the Kingdom's de facto leader, Trump bristled when an ABC News reporter asked if it's appropriate for his family to be doing business with Saudi Arabia and pointed out that the Crown Prince's visit is controversial because he was implicated in the murder of Khashoggi.
Trump replied:
"I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left. ... [My family] does business all over. They've done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually. I'm sure they could do a lot, and anything they've done has been very good. That's what we've done, we've built a tremendous business for a long time."
"I've been very successful. I decided to leave that success behind and make America very successful. And I've America more successful by far than it ever was and that it ever could have been, no matter who was president. There would be nobody bringing in $21 trillion, that I can tell you that right now."
As for the Crown Prince, he said:
“As far as this gentleman is concerned, he's done a phenomenal job. You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about. Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen."
"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."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Trump's words were quickly shut down by Huffington Post reporter Yashar Ali, who pointed out that the Crown Prince was very much aware of the plot to assassinate Khashoggi:
"Trump’s own intelligence agencies concluded that MBS was aware in advance of the plot. Even if that weren’t the case, some of MBS’s closest aides were unquestionably involved in that plot, and it would have been virtually impossible for MBS not to be aware of it in advance."
Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, issued the following statement:
"There is strong evidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018."
"This assessment no longer ceases to be true simply because it has become politically and economically inconvenient for President Trump. His failure to be troubled by this murder is the real embarrassment, not the world’s demands for truth, justice, and accountability for the murder.”
Others have condemned Trump's remarks.
During his first term, Trump claimed there was “nothing definitive” linking the Crown Prince to the murder.
He initially told Washington Post journalists that “obviously there’s been deception, and there’s been lies” regarding Khashoggi’s killing. But he also said Saudi Arabia is “an incredible ally” and pushed back against assertions that the Crown Prince had ordered Saudi operatives to kill the reporter.
He said:
“Nobody has told me he’s responsible. Nobody has told me he’s not responsible. We haven’t reached that point . . . I would love if he wasn’t responsible."
Trump characterized Saudi Arabia’s explanation for Khashoggi’s killing as “credible,” but defended his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s close relationship with the Crown Prince amid concerns that it had become a liability for the White House.
At the time, he said they're simply "two young guys" and that "Jared doesn’t know him well or anything" despite evidence of the close relationship between the two men.
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