
President Donald Trump defended Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a meeting at the White House on Tuesday when asked about the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The exchange happened in the Oval Office as Trump welcomed the Saudi leader for his first visit to the United States since the killing.
Khashoggi, a political columnist and critic of the Saudi regime, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. A 15-member team of Saudi operatives ambushed and strangled him. His body was dismembered and has never been recovered. The CIA concluded in 2021 that the crown prince approved the operation to capture or kill the journalist.