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.
Trump took the crown prince on a tour of the White House, including portraits of past presidents on the colonnade.Credit: AP
“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 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, 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.
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 Dal 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.”
Separately, Trump has also been under fire for telling a female journalist “quiet, piggy” as she questioned him about the Epstein files. The incident took place on board Air Force One while en route to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort late last week.
The reporter was trying to ask a follow-up question about the Epstein files when Trump pointed a finger at her and said: “Quiet, quiet, piggy.”
Another journalist on board the flight, CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs, contemporaneously reported on the incident, but it did not generate much traction until Monday night in the US.
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