US President Donald Trump welcomed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, often referred to as MBS, the controversial de facto ruler of oil-rich Saudi Arabia, to the White House on Tuesday.
In comments delivered in the Oval Office shortly after his arrival, the crown prince announced that he would increase what was supposed to be a $600 billion (€518 billion) investment in the US to $1 trillion.
The visit is the prince’s first since the grisly 2018 killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi agents that US intelligence services concluded were very likely operating on the crown prince’s orders.
MBS calls Khashoggi murder ‘huge mistake’
Seated in front of the Oval Office fireplace, Trump said of his guest: “I’m very proud of the job he’s done… What he’s done is incredible in terms of human rights and everything else is just amazing.”
As MBS and Trump beamed, speaking of investments during a short question and answer session, the mood turned notably more hostile when a US reporter asked the prince about the 2018 murder of Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey.
Trump described Khashoggi as “extremely controversial,” and claimed “a lot of people didn’t like that gentleman,” before adding “he [the prince] knew nothing about it.”
The murder sent shockwaves around the world at the time for its brazenness, with a powerful autocratic regime luring a critic to a diplomatic site outside the country in order to kill and dismember him before returning home.
Prince Mohammed himself said of the murder, “it’s painful and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”
Fighter jet deal
However, human rights concerns are unlikely to be the focus of Trump’s meeting with MBS. On Monday, Trump promised that the US would be selling the Saudis F-35 stealth fighter jets.
There are mixed feelings within the Trump administration over the proposed sale.
Some have argued that it makes sense that Middle East ally Saudi Arabia have US military hardware, saying it will help interoperability with US troops in the region. Others fear the risk of China potentially gaining access to America’s most advanced weapons technology.
Trump on MBS: ‘I like him too much’
Despite controversy surrounding the Saudi ruler and his repressive regime, Trump has openly praised not only Saudi Arabia as “a great ally” but fawned over MBS personally, saying, “I like him a lot… I like him too much,” at a recent US-Saudi investment forum in the kingdom.
Trump, his family and members of his Cabinet have courted Saudi Arabia in the pursuit of lucrative business deals over the years.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed he had “nothing to do with the family business” when asked about a possible conflict of interest for the Trump Organization to do business with Saudi Arabia while he is president.
One of the latest deals involves at least four Trump-brand developments in the Maldives in partnership with Saudi developer Dar Global. Investors will be able to participate in the project, which includes a luxury hotel, by purchasing digital tokens
A Saudi role in the Abraham accords?
The president has also been keenly interested in getting the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel as part of his so-called Abraham accords.
Trump sees the deal as a way to stabilize the Middle East.
On Tuesday, the crown prince said he is working to normalize relations with Israel “as soon as possible,” without elaborating.
Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have all signed on but Saudi Arabia — which does not recognize Israel and is demanding the creation of a Palestinian state before normalization — has yet to follow suit.
Edited by: Wesley Rahn