‘Things happen’: Trump downplays journalist’s murder as he hosts Saudi leader

Washington: US President Donald Trump played down the murder of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi as he rolled out the red carpet for Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed bin Salman, saying “things happen” and admonishing reporters for embarrassing the Saudi prince.

The Saudi prime minister and crown prince is making his first visit to Washington since 2018 – months before the assassination – amid great fanfare from the White House, which lavished the kingdom’s de facto ruler with a welcoming ceremony, red carpet entrance and later tonight a formal dinner.

Khashoggi’s fate remains a hot-button issue in the US, which is where he was based at the time of his murder inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey. He wrote for publications such as The Washington Post and criticised the crown prince.

The Central Intelligence Agency concluded Mohammed ordered Khashoggi’s murder. Saudi Arabia initially denied the killing, then claimed there was a spontaneous fistfight, and later blamed it on rogue operators.

As the two leaders met in the Oval Office on Wednesday (AEDT), Trump scolded a journalist from ABC News America for asking about Khashoggi’s killing, then played it down and disputed the CIA assessment.

“You’re mentioning somebody [Khashoggi] that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said.

“Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen. But he [Mohammed bin Salman] 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.”

Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member assassination squad inside the consulate. His body was never found, and it is believed he was dismembered. An investigation by Al Jazeera theorised the corpse was burnt in a large furnace at the Saudi consul-general’s Istanbul home.

A 2019 United Nations report said the murder was planned, overseen and endorsed by high-level Saudi officials and stated: “The killing of Mr Khashoggi constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the State of Saudi Arabia is responsible.”

In the Oval Office on Wednesday, Mohammed said the incident was a “huge mistake” and had been painful for Saudi Arabia, but defended his country’s record.

“We did all the right steps of investigation in Saudi Arabia, and we’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happen[s] like that,” he said. “It’s painful and it’s a huge mistake and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

Meanwhile, Trump confirmed he would sell prized F-35 fighter jets, manufactured by US defence contractor Lockheed Martin, to Saudi Arabia. The kingdom will also purchase nearly 300 American tanks.

The deal was not conditional on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords to normalise relations with Israel. Mohammed indicated he was open to doing so, but wanted commitments on a two-state solution in Palestine.

Typically, the US has only sold F-35s to close allies, including NATO members, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Israel.

Trump dismissed suggestions Israel might be concerned about the US selling the jets to Riyadh. “Israel’s aware and they’re going to be very happy,” he said.

Successive US presidents have committed to maintaining what is known as a “qualitative military edge” for Israel in its region.

The president also denied he had any conflict of interest with Saudi Arabia because his company, the Trump Organisation, and his family members are doing significant business in and with Saudi Arabia.

While Trump was out of office, a fund headed by the crown prince himself invested $US2 billion with a private equity firm owned by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Both entities are also involved in a $US55 billion ($84.5 billion) deal to buy out publicly listed video game buyer Electronic Arts and take the company private, The New York Times reported in September.

A day before this week’s meeting, Dar Global, the international arm of Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan, announced it would build a Trump-branded hotel in the Maldives containing 80 ultra-luxury villas on the beach, or over the water, catering for “discerning global travellers”.

That project is the latest in a list of projects the Trump Organisation has undertaken with the London-listed, Dubai-based company; a partnership that has accelerated since Trump won last year’s presidential election.

Trump told reporters he was no longer involved in running the Trump Organisation and left that to his sons. “What my family does is fine; they do business all over. They’ve done very little with Saudi Arabia really.”

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