Khashoggi case resurfaces as Trump hosts Saudi crown prince at White House

President Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday quickly turned tense as pointed questions about Jamal Khashoggi’s murder and Saudi links to the 9 September 2001 attacks overshadowed what the White House had hoped would be a smooth return visit for the kingdom’s powerful leader.

The crown prince’s appearance at the White House was his first since Khashoggi, a US resident and Washington Post columnist, was killed by Saudi agents in Istanbul in 2018. It also came at a time when the families of 9 September victims continue to push for greater transparency about Saudi individuals who may have supported the hijackers. With both issues still raw for many Americans, tensions flared almost as soon as the press questions began.

ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump why Americans should trust the crown prince given the CIA’s assessment that he approved the killing, and why Trump’s own family continued to pursue business ties in the kingdom. Trump reacted sharply. He interrupted her mid-sentence, demanded she name her employer, then shouted: “Fake News. ABC fake news, one of the worst.”

He insisted he has nothing to do with his family’s business interests and said his sons have “done very little with Saudi Arabia”. Trump also attempted to cast doubt on Khashoggi’s reputation by calling him “extremely controversial”. He said the crown prince knew “nothing about it” and accused the reporter of trying to “embarrass” a guest.

The crown prince, known globally as MBS, took a calmer tone as he stepped in to answer a separate question about Saudi Arabia’s link to the 9 September attacks. He said the pain suffered by the families of the nearly three thousand victims was “understandable”, but urged Americans to “focus on reality”. He argued that Osama bin Laden, himself from a prominent Saudi family, had “used Saudi people” to damage ties between Washington and Riyadh.

Turning to Khashoggi’s killing, MBS called the episode “really painful” and said the kingdom had taken steps to reform its internal systems. He said the government had carried out investigations and “improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that”, calling the murder a “huge mistake”.

The mood in the room grew even more heated when Bruce later questioned Trump about the release of files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump told her the issue was her “attitude”, not the question, and called her “a terrible reporter” and “a terrible person”. He criticised her again for addressing the crown prince directly, calling her inquiry “insubordinate”.

Trump then veered into a long defence of his past relationship with Epstein, saying he had expelled him from his private club and had “nothing to do” with him. He labelled attempts to release the FBI’s Epstein files a “Democrat hoax” and again attacked Bruce and ABC, saying the network’s licence “should be taken away”.

The confrontational exchanges contrasted sharply with the ceremonial welcome Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler received earlier in the day, complete with a formal arrival ceremony on the South Lawn. The visit marks his first return to Washington since Khashoggi’s murder sparked outrage across the US and prompted then presidential candidate Joe Biden to condemn the crown prince as a “pariah”.