US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS) knew nothing about the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi Arabian agents, offering a fierce defense of the visiting prince that contradicted a US intelligence assessment.
The controversy over the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and US-based critic of the Saudi Arabian leadership, flared again in the Oval Office in front of cameras as the kingdom’s de facto ruler made his first White House visit in more than seven years, seeking to further rehabilitate his global image tarnished by the incident.
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.
Photo: Reuters
US intelligence agencies concluded that MBS approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi Arabian 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 MBS 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 denounced ABC News’ Mary Bruce as a “terrible reporter” and threatened the network’s license to broadcast after she asked whether it was appropriate for Trump’s family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while he was president.
Before he could answer, she directed a question to MBS: “Your Royal Highness, the US intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist; 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you? And the same to you, Mr President.”
After asking Bruce who she worked for, Trump called ABC “fake news,” adding that the Federal Communications Commission should look into suspending the network’s license.
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 said, adding that she wished Trump would meet with her so she could introduce him to the “real Jamal.”
During a formal black-tie dinner at the White House later on Tuesday, which was also attended by Portuguese soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and billionaire Elon Musk, Trump said he was “taking our military cooperation to even greater heights” by designating Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally, a status that provides a US partner with military and economic privileges, but does not entail security commitments.
US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June had made Saudi Arabia safer, Trump added.
A White House fact sheet said the two sides signed a Strategic Defense Agreement, which “fortifies deterrence across the Middle East,” makes it easier for US defense firms to operate in the country and secures “new burden-sharing funds from Saudi Arabia to defray US costs.”
Additional reporting by AP and AFP
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
‘DISRESPECTFUL’: Katie Miller, the wife of Trump’s most influential adviser, drew ire by posting an image of Greenland in the colors of the US flag, captioning it ‘SOON’ US President Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by the Danish prime minister to stop “threatening” the territory. Washington’s military intervention in Venezuela has reignited fears for Greenland, which Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex, given its strategic location in the arctic. While aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated the goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “We’ll worry about Greenland in
PERILOUS JOURNEY: Over just a matter of days last month, about 1,600 Afghans who were at risk of perishing due to the cold weather were rescued in the mountains Habibullah set off from his home in western Afghanistan determined to find work in Iran, only for the 15-year-old to freeze to death while walking across the mountainous frontier. “He was forced to go, to bring food for the family,” his mother, Mah Jan, said at her mud home in Ghunjan village. “We have no food to eat, we have no clothes to wear. The house in which I live has no electricity, no water. I have no proper window, nothing to burn for heating,” she added, clutching a photograph of her son. Habibullah was one of at least 18 migrants who died
Russia early yesterday bombarded Ukraine, killing two people in the Kyiv region, authorities said on the eve of a diplomatic summit in France. A nationwide siren was issued just after midnight, while Ukraine’s military said air defenses were operating in several places. In the capital, a private medical facility caught fire as a result of the Russian strikes, killing one person and wounding three others, the State Emergency Service of Kyiv said. It released images of rescuers removing people on stretchers from a gutted building. Another pre-dawn attack on the neighboring city of Fastiv killed one man in his 70s, Kyiv Governor Mykola
RSS